When You Think You Know Her
by A. S. Rainwater
Summary: Andie is in love with her best friend, Alice. Alice tells Andie she and her family are vampires, and tells Andie she is her mate. Andie is faced with a choice: her life? Or her Alice? Note the M rating, really MA. Alice femslash OC, don't like don't read
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight plots, characters, or situations. I own my original characters and my own plots. All else is property of the AMAZING Stephenie Meyer.**

Routine was my middle name. I would wake up at 6 in the morning, every morning, take my mile run, come home, shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, and be in my car by 7:30 to make it to my morning shift at the hospital; eat lunch with my best friend at one, clock out by three, then make my evening classes at University. After class I would hit the gym on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, the rest of my evenings for catching up on homework. My life was... almost boring. There was never any drama because it came with relationships, and I hadn't had one of those in a year. Being a girl who likes girls, I understood the incessant need for attention that my ex-girlfriend exhumed, and I also realized I would not be able to show her that affection, that level of attention due to my already hectic schedule.

So Daphne had left me in our little studio apartment, alone. She had even taken our long-haired tabby cat, Hobbes. That is where I fell into changing my entire identity to Routine, though Routine was not that bad, not with her...

I had friends. I had a lot of friends. Friends that would splay on my living room couch playing video games and smoking pot until they cleaned out my refrigerator, and leave my cabinets sparse. Friends that brought their friends over to drink beer and use the stereo, all the while I would be locked in my bedroom with my nose in a book or in my computer, working, studying.

But I had one friend at school, one friend that had not ever invited herself over, one friend who listened to me rant about Shakespeare and my addiction to Plath. A friend who lived in her own studio apartment with a small garden on the ledge of the window that looked out over the park, and had slipped me a key to said place, bidding me come when I wanted.

It was now, sitting in my car on the street in front of her building, that I will begin this story.

My mouth was dry, my throat on fire. I couldn't believe I was nervous to press the intercom and alert her to my presence. "It's just Alice," I breathed to myself, closing my eyes and trying to calm my erratic heart beat. I never had this problem when it was daylight and we were in the warm performance hall, whispering excitedly to each other while we listened to the school orchestra rehearse. I never had this problem when we were in a dark theater, watching whatever Shakespeare was in town and in full production. I never had a case of the nerves even that night on the beach, before Daphne left me, when Alice's fingers had brushed mine as we wandered down the shore line, making my heart skip a beat. I could have sworn she heard it, the way she tilted her face up and showed me her dimples when it stopped, then threaded her arm through mine. So cold, her skin was, especially in the sultry South Carolina night.

Nearly two years of Alice's friendship, and I was still nervous to walk up to that intercom. It would be just us tonight, her brother would be out on a date, and would surely not be in before late morning. It would be just me and Alice, and the very vivid memory of the almost-kiss we had at the theater two days before. Such an almost-amazing ending to an incredible evening with her, watching her eyes light up as her favorite characters sashayed onto the stage, and watching her mouth every line to _The Taming of the Shrew_.

And all I could think about when I got out of my car was the disappointment in her amber eyes as I pulled away and placed that kiss on her forehead. I couldn't fall in love with Alice Cullen. Daphne had left me because of my busy life. I wouldn't want that to push Alice away, as well. That was my most prominent thought as I climbed the concrete steps and let my finger hover the call button, knowing that tonight would be a turning point. But I pressed it, anyway.

"Andie?" Alice's bell-like voice tinkled from the speaker.

"Yeah, it's me," I replied thickly, then clearing my throat. "Am I coming up, or are you coming down?"

"You're coming up," she replied, and I heard the buzzer, alerting me that she had unlocked the security door.

I entered the building, shaking the snow from my jacket and my hair, and looked up the winding stairwell that lead straight to her. "Well, Andrea, you've done the hardest part. Now you just have to go up there and explain to your best friend why you can't fall further in love with her," I muttered to myself as I topped the first step. And why it's your own insecurities that won't let you, my brain shot back at me sourly.

She was in her sleep stuff when she swung the door open before I could even knock, but it didn't matter to me because she was still breathtaking: about five feet tall, she had black hair cut very short, pale, pale, _pale_ white skin like snow, and always just as cold. Her eyes were my favorite, the strange yellow-ocher color that held so many different hues on so many different days: honey, amber, sunflower, summer sunshine... and on her bad days would be so dark they looked black. The smile that lit up her face like a lighthouse beacon made forget every reason I had for _not_ wanting this girl to be mine, and before I knew it she was in my arms, wrapped around me completely. I inhaled deeply, taking in the familiar scent of lavender and freesia, and I felt her do the same, running her perfect little nose up my throat, smelling me as if I were a potent wine she wanted to taste. When we were done sniffing like dogs meeting for the first time, I set her down on her feet, and she pulled me further into her apartment, closing the door behind me.

"I was scared you wouldn't come," she whispered to me, eyes searching my face as if to memorize the features.

"How could I not?" I breathed back, lost in her eyes, honey today. "After the other night, I find I can't think of anything else."

She smiled softly at the information, and led me over to the sofa, sitting down and patting a spot near her. She flicked the television off with the remote and tossed it aside as I took the place next to her with a deep sigh. I was so torn: my career, my life? Or Alice? There was something telling me that I could not have both, that if I were going to be with her, I would be utterly _hers_, and life to me would be my Alice.

After several seconds of silence, she sighed as well and readjusted so that her back was against the arm of her sofa, and she slid her bare feet beneath my ass as if to warm them, but I knew there was no warming for her cold flesh. "It seems we are at a crossroads," Alice began reluctantly, and my eyes slid up from her ankles to her eyes, taking in every inch of her on the way up. "Andie... I... I have these fee– feelings for you. I don't get these feelings for hu– people. I have spent a great deal of time being anti-social so I_ won't_ get these feelings for anyone. But you... I had to know more about the girl that stumped the professor with a very interesting hypothesis in Behavioral Science. I had to know what drove you to chew your pen tops until they were plastic toothpicks. I had to know why every time I saw you, you were immersed in Sylvia Plath or William Shakespeare. When I heard you in the bathroom reciting the lines from _King Lear_, I decided we needed to be friends." She paused at this, and I took in her words the best I could, and I had a fear that she was going to end this monologue with the fact she had fallen for me. "You don't know how nervous I was to approach you in the library one year, ten months, and fourteen days ago," she went on quietly, looking at me with a shy smile. "I knew I was meeting my soul mate when you looked up at me and your blue eyes flashed behind your silver frames. My stomach did a somersault."

"Mine, too," I admitted sheepishly, my mind replaying the moment in great detail. The open book on the table being _Romeo and Juliet_, and the lines from Juliet I had just absorbed when she called my name the first time: "My only love sprung my only hate! Too early seen unknown and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, that I must love a loathed enemy." The scene at the party where she meets Romeo the first time, and discovers his identity.

"I know," she replied, smiling crookedly so that only one of her dimples revealed itself, wiggling her toes beneath me so as to push her feet further in. "I heard you swallow, saw you break a sweat, and I'm sure your heart was going crazy, as well." She sighed again, running a tiny, pale hand through her short dark locks, and I watched as her hair fell perfectly back into place as she'd never touched it, like a thousand times before. "Merely judging by my observation of you, I knew you were going to be... _right _for me."

My heart, already humming in my chest, stopped abruptly at the words "I knew you were going to be... _right_ for me", then picked right back up to the pace it had been beating. As always, it seemed like Alice knew, because she reached over and took my right hand between her icy palms, rubbing my knuckles affectionately.

"Alice..." I bit my lip, thinking of the best way to phrase what I was going to say, so I could state my case with some sort of coherent justice, which was a chore considering it was very hard to think rationally sitting there with this beautiful being, saying those words to me in that tinkling voice. "I feel the same way, only I don't want to be one of these people we pass in the street or talk to in school. I don't want to worship you because you're beautiful. I want to worship you because your soul is even more so. I hate that they become infatuated with you, when they don't even know _you_." I paused, a dark look crossing my features, and I looked up from our hands back to her eyes, the warmth in the golden depths making up for her freezing grip. "That really bugs me, how people just... _drool_ when you walk past them."

"It's more than that with you! Come on, Andie, just admit it. We were _built_ for each other. You can't deny the magnetism the other night, because I can still feel the vibration pulling us together when I close my eyes!" she hissed in a fast whisper, her eyes flashing with an intensity I'd never seen from her; I blinked rapidly, looking away from eyes that were suddenly animalistic. "That was the closest I'd ever been to the _real_ thing, something natural and innocent, and not premeditated in lust."

When I pulled my eyes away from the fish tank and back to hers, whatever I had seen moments before was gone, replaced by her usual twinkle. "I can't argue with that," I said, my throat tight with emotions I didn't even know I had until then. "It was the most magical night of my life. You don't know how much I wanted to kiss you." How much I needed to kiss you, I corrected myself silently.

"Why didn't you, then?" she whispered painfully, still clutching my hand tightly between hers.

I started to speak, stopped, then took a steadying breath. "Because I don't want to ruin this. I don't want to end up pushing you away. I'm not capable of a relationship, just ask Daphne."

"_Daphne_?" Alice scoffed, rolling her gorgeous eyes at the name. "What the hell would _she_ know about the real you? Daphne never knew you like I know you, and you know that, too, Andie!" True, painfully true.

Alice shook her head at me, closing her eyes and rubbing the bridge of her little nose in agitation at my weak protests. But I really didn't want to lose her in any way, and would give up our chance at happiness if that's what it meant to have her beside me. If I kept her as my best friend, I should never have to lose her. "Alice, stop that," I scolded her gently, pulling her hand back to me. "How could I be with you, Alice? How could I open my eyes every day to you, and not screw this up somehow? I'm too jealous, I couldn't handle the way people constantly eye rape you! I'd go to jail."

Alice threw up her hands and jumped to her feet, pacing the carpet in front of me. "Excuses!" she snarled, pointing a finger at me. "You're running, Andrea! You are high-tailing in the opposite direction from me, and it's not fair! You trust me, I know you do! You know I would _never _hurt you. You're still feeling the sting from Daphne, and I think a part of you is waiting on her. News flash, Andie: Daphne is not coming home."

Her words hit hard below the belt, forcing the air from my lungs with a _whoosh_, my eyes tearing up at the pain of hearing that from Alice's mouth. But if I were honest with her, I'd tell her that our friendship had a lot to do with why Daphne left me. True, my schedule was full, but the reality of it was that whatever free time I had was never spent with Daphne; it was well spent with Alice.

Two summers before I had taken a week to go home to South Carolina, and it was not my girlfriend I chose to accompany me, it was Alice Cullen, and it was much to Daphne's dismay; she left me two months later. What affection I gave Daphne stopped abruptly when I met Alice, because I fell for her, and I fell hard. I was just too stubborn to admit it, I fought against it too hard, not wanting to be like everyone else to her. I wanted to be different. And Alice was wrong. I didn't want Daphne to come home. I could take Daphne leaving me every day for the rest of my life, in comparison to the chance of losing my Alice just once.

I tried to explain this to her, but she just kept shaking her head at my words, as if deflecting them from falling on her ears. "I would never leave you, Andie. Ever. As we stand even now, I will be the one holding your hand when... you die." She lost her voice on the last two words, a terrified look creeping into her feminine features, as if she were just realizing that I would indeed one day die.

"Everyone dies," I said softly, yet dismissively, and she raised her horror struck face to look at me as I said it. "And I selfishly hope you out live me, because I do not think I can go through that."

She stared at me for a solid second longer, then resumed her pacing. "Back to the point, Andie, don't try to distract me," she said heatedly. "All of your reasons are moot because _this is the real thing_!" The last few words were nearly screeched at me.

"How do you know?" I shot at her.

I never saw her move, she just appeared in my lap, her hands on my face, her nose inches from mine, and her eyes, liquid gold, bored into me. "Because when we're close like this, I can feel your spirit radiating from your pores. I can see _me_ reflected in your eyes, not just my face. I can feel the difference with us that grows every day. We never plateau, we just keep evolving, and _damn it_, Andie, evolution is forever!"

"Alice..." The tears that has been standing sentry over my irises now spilled silently down my cheeks, and Alice caught them with a frigid finger, wiping them away. "I'm terrified of you, of how you make me feel."

"Don't be scared of me, Andie," she said in a soft, pleading tone, her eyes still searching my soul through my own. "I'm not dangerous to you, not at all. I love you, and I'm yours, whether you want me or not. I would never harm you in any way. Do you believe that?"

"Yes, I do believe that. But Alice–" She cut off my protest with a finger to my lips.

"Bear all I just told you in mind. I want to emphasize the part where I love you, I'm eternally yours, and _I'll never hurt you_." She paused, allowing me time to let it sink in and wonder where she was going with these points, and I watched as she sucked in a great breath to continue. "Andie, I-I'm a vampire."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

A long silence stretched after she had said that to me, and I just stared at her blankly, my best friend–no, soul mate– straddled across my lap, telling me that she was a vampire. "W-what?" I sputtered after a second, confused. "A- a vampire?"

She nodded, an apprehensive look on her face, as if waiting for me to push her off and run away screaming. I still stared at her, then I started to chuckle. A vampire, really? What a way to lighten the mood. She let me laugh for a minute, and when I wiped away the tears I saw she had not cracked one grin. "Alice– are you serious?" I asked in bewilderment, and she nodded again, gravely.

"I was born in Mississippi in 1901, Mary Alice Brandon. I can see the future. My parents had me put in an asylum. One of the staff there created me before another vampire struck out to kill me, he wanted my blood very badly. The other vampire killed my creator before I ever even saw his face, because I have no human memories. Everything I know about my past, I found through research after the same vampire attacked my brother Edward and his wife, Bella, him letting the little secret slip about me."

I still had no words for her, as I listened to this unbelievable tale she was telling me, and yet I could sense the truth in it, though it instilled no fear in me of Alice. She was just as gentle, harmless, and pure as she had been to me the entire time I had been deceived by her human facade.

"I left Mississippi in 1920, two years after my transition, eternally nineteen years old, too beautiful for words, and utterly lost on what to do with myself, as the only thing I knew was that my name was Alice... I remembered my creator whispering that to me while I burned in darkness... 'My little Alice'. I had one thing to go on, and it was a vision I had after waking from the burning hell that was vampiric creation. I knew that I would mingle with humans, because it was in a human tavern. There was another blood drinker in the room, a tall, handsome blonde male, but covered in hideous scars. He became my brother. You know him as Jasper, he lives here with me. I met Jasper in real life in 1925, in Philadelphia, and I had another vision. This time it was that we would meet a family of vampires, the patriarch being a gentle soul called Carlisle, and his mate, a matronly persona named Esme. They had two 'children' in this life, they were Edward and Rosalie. Later, after Jazz and I were with them, they adopted Emmett after Rosalie brought him home in rough shape."

She paused to appraise my reaction, and I looked back at her mutely, my mouth hanging free of its own accord, and she gave a minuscule tinkle of a giggle. "Alice. I can't... I can't really grasp this. I-I've never heard anything like this before, only in cheesy romance novels or really bad movies. Yet you walk in the daylight with me all the time! You don't have any coffins lying around, your teeth are perfectly straight, no fangs! And I've never felt afraid of you, like humans are supposed to be!"

Alice tinkled another laugh. "Andie, think about it, love: you never see me when the sun is shining. I've never eaten in front of you. My skin freezes you, you flinch nearly every time I touch you. You've never seen eyes like mine before. You can't understand how I can quote all your favorite plays and some of your favorite books. You even point out to me sometimes about my vocabulary and my execution of language: you said it yourself, sometimes I speak like I am from another time."

My mouth fell open again as I racked my brains for a memory of Alice in the sun with me, but there was nothing. Always cloudy or raining when we did things out in the daylight. I remembered questioning about her dietary habits: she'd replied she was sensitive to a lot of food. And there were also times it seemed she appeared out of thin air, but I was always too happy to see her to question it. There was something else, too... "You never come around me when I'm menstruating," I said quietly, seeing the confirmation in the eyes of the girl I loved. "And your eyes turn black when you do, so I suppose that means you need to... feed."

She said nothing, and I gulped, the sound audible enough for the room at large to hear. "Alice... did you want me? You know..." I knew she would catch my unsaid fear, and she did, letting her eyes fall to her lap, folding her hands there.

"Yes," she whispered. Then, noticing the rate which my heart sped up, her face shot back up to look at me beseechingly. "I don't feed on humans. I've gone ninety one years without feeding on a human being. But your blood was different. It was like a finger beckoning to me. And that is really what caused me to notice you in the lecture hall."

"And now?" I asked hoarsely, scared to know the answer, because whatever it was would be the truth.

She smiled a real, honest smile, leaning forward and letting her nose travel up my neck to my ear, like always, only now I knew what she was really doing; I should have been frightened, but in the manner of honesty which we were speaking, if she asked, I would have to admit to her that it excited me. "The hunger for your blood is gone, but the smell is still delectable. It affects me _quite_ differently now." She left her face in my neck, stroking up and down with her nose, showing me exactly how it affected her, which did not help the problem that was forming in my jeans. I wanted her kiss me there, I wanted her to lick the flesh of my throat. Hell, if she really wanted, I would let her take my life.

I wanted to groan in disappointment when she leaned back away from me, and I think my face gave it away, because she giggled at me again. "Silly Andie," she murmured affectionately, tucking a loose lock of brown hair behind my ear. "You're perfect for me... just as I am for you. All this aside, all my lies and deceit in the open, I still want to belong to you."

"Have you... had a vision of this?" I couldn't help but to ask, and she grew still, her eyes sliding out of focus slightly, and after a few moments, she came back with a wide grin and a squeal of happiness.

"Until just now, all I had seen is that I would fall for you. I couldn't know the outcome because you hadn't decided. But guess what?"

"I've decided," I replied factually, because I had made a decision.

She smiled at me, sliding her arms around my neck and pulling herself closer to me, chills sweeping through me as I caught the scent of her sweet breath as her face became closer to mine. "You have," she agreed, with that same satisfied grin. "You're mine, for eternity." The first brush of her lips was cautious, like she wasn't sure if I'd return the press, but my lips took a mind of their own and grasped hers tightly, as if it was air they needed to live. Hearing her sigh into the kiss and feeling her relax against me was more ecstasy than I deserved. Her lips were hard like a stone, only smooth like marble, or a fine ice sculpture, and the texture drove me wild, my heart feeling like it could explode at any moment. After a few moments of this intoxicating display of affection, she sighed into it, pulling back to look at me, and stroke my jaw.

"Eternity?" I asked, not forgetting the word she used to relay the time we would last. I found my hand rising to her neck, feeling the hard flesh there, wondering how I never noticed how different her body was from mine, in all the times we'd cuddled to watch movies on her couch.

"Well, I saw... are you sure you want to know?"

I debated that. I had a growing suspicion of what her news would be. Already I was feeling the denial wash over me. "Please," I said, deciding to face that fear.

"You will eventually be like me... I turn you, when you ask me to," she told me, watching my face carefully, and I saw disappointment in her eyes again as I balked, shaking my head in disbelief.

Me, Andrea Louise Fowler, a vampire? Immortal? No, I didn't think so. I hated to be on the grind to stay on top as it was, and was one of the few people in the world that would work until their dying day, welcoming death like a friend not seen in years. I couldn't tell Alice that, not after the look that had briefly crossed her expression, but now she gave me a tiny smile that did not reach her eyes. "It doesn't have to be that way, Andie," she told me softly. "My visions are based on the path of what pivotal decision is made at that time. It could always change. You can always just grow old with me, and I'll take care of you when you can't care for yourself." She brushed her lips across mine again, as if to seal the promise.

"And you'll move on when I'm gone?" I asked her after my head stopped reeling from her light kiss, and she gave me a sad smile.

"I'll die when you do, love. Your last breath will be my last."

I sat up off the couch in indignance, my face growing bright red and my blood surging, which I was now sure she could hear, but I didn't care. That answer was not the right one at all. "No! I don't want you to cease existing just because I will! That's not fair to you, you're immortal, so stay that way! Don't decide to commit suicide because I've died, Alice, what the hell is wrong with you? What would the world _be_ if you weren't in it?"

"Does it matter, if _you're_ not here? It doesn't to me, fuck this place, this existence, if I can't have it with you," she answered, running her fingers through my hair, watching it fall through her fingers like silk. "You are my mate, Andie. We vampires only truly mate once in our damnable existence." She pressed her lips to my forehead, smelling my hair. "I've seen first hand the shell a blood drinker becomes without its mate; I do not care to share that fate. So, yes, if you remain mortal, our lives will end the same day, no less than minutes apart."

My throat contracted as I thought about Alice dying, and I looked at her with fresh tears standing in my eyes. "How does a vampire die?" I whispered, keen on asking questions I really had no desire of which to know the answers.

She just stared at me. "I'm not going to tell you that," she said frankly a few seconds later. "It's morbid, and a very painful way to go. But for creatures like me, it is the only way."

I shut my eyes against the sting in my chest at her words, imagining the worst tortures possible: dismemberment, fire, among other things. "Maybe I'll change," I blurted out in a panic, my heart going crazy with the thoughts of Alice going through any sort of pain. "I don't know, Alice, I'm so confused, my head is spinning with everything you've told me tonight. The one thing I'm certain about is I want you, be you human or not, I don't care." I kissed those smooth as polished glass lips again, swooning inside myself, wondering if I would ever get used to the sensation of her kiss. I brought my hand up to her face, stroking along down her jaw, tracing fingers down her throat, then pushing that same hand behind her head, twisting my fingers in her pixie cut, holding her face to mine. I couldn't believe that tonight had happened, but was I ever thankful that it had. "I'm scared I'll wake up, and this will all have been one crazy, fucked up dream," I breathed against her cool mouth a few minutes later, feeling the cold air on mine when she chuckled.

"I had to tell you the truth. I wanted to this whole time, but my family wanted me to be sure that you were truly my mate first, not just a potent human. I called home Wednesday night after you dropped me off, and spoke to my mother, telling her everything, even what almost happened. She suggested it was time, and that it sounded like you were ready. As it turns out, she was right." A few chaste kisses, light caresses on my face, giving me chills.

I swallowed hard, looking back into her honeyed irises. "So, your family knows about me, then?"

She nodded with a shy smile. "I told them about you before I ever decided to introduce myself and befriend you." Then her face grew somber. "But I was looking for support then. I don't need that now."

I knew what she meant. They talked her through her desire for my blood, to protect her from doing something she would later regret. "Because you wanted to gnaw on my neck, right?" I teased her with a wry grin, worried she'd thought she'd made me uncomfortable.

She leaned forward and ran her nose up my neck again, pressing her lips to it, pulling the flesh with her lips, rather than her teeth, before she sat back up on my lap. "I _still_ want to gnaw on your neck," she shot back playfully with a smoldering look that ignited a heat between my legs. I blushed when I saw her nostrils flare, and her look down between us at my zipper, then back up at me with a smug grin. "Problem, Andie?"

My blush deepened to a puce color, and she giggled at me. "How did you...?" I trailed off as she tapped her nose, bouncing her eyebrows. "So, even before you always knew when I was aroused around you?"

Her smugness melted and a playful air returned. "You must have a _very_ active imagination, Andrea Louise," she goaded me, making my blush impossibly darker. I knew she meant the times we'd snuggled up for a movie together beneath a blanket on her couch, and my mind started to drift onto "what-if" scenarios. Or possibly when we were on the beach watching the tide, and I was daydreaming about throwing her down in the white sand, and making love to her while the surf came in around us. There were hundreds of times that I'd been aroused near her. Now I got to find out it was never a secret. I may as well have been carrying a rock hard penis in my pants around her.

I groaned in embarrassment, hiding my face in her chest, making her laugh, but she cradled my head there, petting my hair affectionately. "If it's any consolation to you, I have a pretty active imagination, too, and I would bet my Porsche that we were always thinking the same thing. Sometimes I would already be lost in a thought with you, and it would be your scent that brought me back. I've always been entertained with the phenomena, as it seems our brains work alike, and the same things act as aphrodisiacs for us," she said in an assuring tone, but her words only made my "problem" worse, as the dull ache became more pronounced. It was now a sharp throb in my clitoris as my thundering heart pushed pump after pump of blood through it, and it made Alice sigh into my ear, her breath floating across it nearly making me moan. It was unbearable, how turned on I was so quickly.

"Can you feel that?" I whispered to her, pulling her tighter against me by the small of her back, tilting my face up to taste the flesh beneath her jaw with the very tip of my tongue.

"You? Yes," she whispered back, still cradling my head as I continued to explore her neck, then her ears, and I felt her fingers tangle themselves in my hair. Her breath accelerated, but I noticed something lacking, her body was _too_ quiet.

"Your heart," I said aloud in amazement.

"Does not beat," she finished my thought, ducking her face down and catching my mouth with hers. I could feel that she was holding back, her lips allowing me to shape mine around them, every move she made was cautious and calculated, and she wouldn't open up and let me in. She only allowed me to trace her bottom lip with my tongue. I knew now why she had to be honest with me before we got this close: I could tell now she was not human, no mistaking Alice for a human girl at all.

"Alice...?" I whimpered as she took a turn softly assaulting my neck, my arms still pulling her into me, but I felt her body's resistance: I couldn't budge her.

"Hmm?" I gasped as the shock of her cold, wet tongue swept up the left side of my neck and then gave my earlobe the tiniest suck, making me moan in my throat just a little.

"Is sex even possible for you?" I could tell my question had an explanation as an answer when she reluctantly pulled her face from beneath my hair with a heavy sigh, sitting up straight on my lap again. I flinched horribly when I saw her eyes: they had gone from their usual golden luster to an inky black.

"It's okay," she told me, knowing why I flinched. "Hunger and arousal are closely related to our senses and instincts. My eyes will lighten again." She paused as I relaxed, then went on. "But yes, it is possible for me, however... I'm not sure how it will work for us."

"What do you mean? The... blood lust?"

She smiled and shook her head. "That is the smallest problem for me out of a list. The biggest being that I could crush you if I got too enthusiastic. I think I could make love to _you_ safely, if that's what you're wondering..."

"But I couldn't touch you?" I asked mournfully, the news killing a piece of me: I so wanted to touch her. I wanted to explore every part of her, kiss every inch of her icy planes.

Alice shifted uneasily, sliding off my lap to curl up into my right side, pulling my arm around her and anchoring it by sliding her fingers through mine. "Well, I know that when Bella was still human and she and Edward were... active... the passing of his venom into her mouth never harmed her. I think the virus has to be spread through the blood stream, i.e. through a bite. So I _think_," she stressed the word, "that part would be okay, it's just that... Andie, I've wanted you, and this intimacy, for a long time now. And if I get too caught up in the sensation of you doing things to me that I've only fantasized about, I could kill you by accident. I'm strong, you see. If I kissed you too hard, I could break your jaw. If I held you too firmly, I could obliterate every bone in your body. If, when you were kissing me down there, it were too much for me and I closed my legs, my thighs could crush your skull."

"But on the same note," I added slowly, "what if you were making love to me and you got too rough, thrusted too hard, not meaning to? And could you really handle the blood pumping through my body like that? Because Alice, I'm here to tell you, if you were to go down on me, _I _would get too enthusiastic, and I don't want you to push yourself."

"Yeah," she sighed defeatedly. "I don't know how the physical intimacy is going to work, Andie."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, don't worry about it now. I am completely content with kissing you constantly, trust me. If my body wants more, I can do it myself when I'm alone, same as I do now."

Alice looked up at me with a crooked grin, again only revealing a single dimple. "I do that, too. It's all I have because I can't have you."

BOOM. Clitoral overdrive. "What... do you think about when you do it?" I was playing a dangerously sexy game with her now, going out of my way to drive us both insane with hormones and whatever held her vampire's libido strong.

She grinned widely, catching my game. "Well, what do _you_ think about when you do it?" she answered devilishly, that same smoldering look returning to her eyes.

I shrugged a little, looking away from her gaze before I lost all bravado and melted into a pile of putty. "Oh, it depends... where we've been that day, what we're doing. What you wore, the things you say. I've only had one particular fantasy replay itself."

"Tell me," she said in a tone that was no less than demanding, but in a dominant way that gave me shivers.

I looked back at her with a teasing smile. "I asked first, so I think you should 'fess up."

She looked at me for a second with her mouth hanging open, showing off that pretty little pink tongue of hers, then I saw resolve leak into her eyes. "I think about when we're lying together in bed, spooned together, that I'd let my hand creep under your shirt and up your side. I think about how you'd turn in my arms and look at me with your mouth slightly open, your bottom lip tantalizing. I think about how my hand would be on your stomach, trailing up to your breast, and I think about the gasp you would make if I closed my hand on it. I think about deep, passionate kisses with throaty moans as I continue massaging your breast, maybe a little more vigorously as times goes on, and how your breath would sound as I kissed my way down your beautiful neck, pushing up your shirt for my mouth to replace my hands." She paused, giving me a little grin, her nostrils flaring again, and I didn't even care that she knew she had created a flood in my panties, I _wanted_ her to know now. I wanted to drag her on top of me, shove her hand down my pants, and hump like crazy against her, wave after wave of pleasure ripping through me.

She let that little teaser sink in, and I fell back on the couch in a daze, my head full of what could happen next in her little scenario, which was what she wanted, I'm sure. I readjusted until I was lying with my head on the arm opposite of where her back rested on the other, kicking my shoes off, and stripping my jacket; I was _hot_. I closed my eyes and bid her go on, wanting her voice to map out the tryst in my head, and I crossed my ankles, squeezing my thighs together for some kind of pressure release for my ache. I couldn't wait til I got home...

**A/N: Just bear with me, guys. I appreciate the feedback more than you'll ever know.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Alice was silent as I lay there playing her little fantasy in my head, even after I asked her to go on, and when I opened my eyes, I saw hers were trained on the juncture between my thighs, and her mouth was open, her tongue touching the side of it. I gave her a smile. "Problem, Alice?" I echoed her earlier taunt, and slowly her eyes slid up my body to meet mine.

Before I knew what was happening, she was on top of me, pulling my legs apart and pressing the front of her pajama pants against me, latching one leg around her waist as she bent to kiss me, this time forcing entry into my mouth with her tongue, the soul sharing kiss better than the tiny relief she was giving me, pressed into me so hard. I ground my hips upward, and she made a tiny noise into our kiss, which got even more intense when I heard that, it drove me very nearly over the edge, but then she pulled her lips away from me, panting as she gyrated her hips against me, her forehead leaned onto mine. "Andie, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" she whispered painfully to me, almost panicked, reaching down between us and popping the button on my jeans. "I _need_ you. I can't _not_ do this."

"Please," I begged, shaking my head at her apology, and taking her right wrist in my hand. She let me slide her hand into the top of my jeans and beneath the hem of my underwear, a gasping sort of whimper coming from her as her finger skated over the hard little pebble my clit had become. If her frigid touch shocked my exposed epidermis, it surely sent tremors through me when she pushed into me finally, into the hottest place my body possessed, and my head went back with the loudest noise from my throat yet as she pumped me that first time.

With her left hand she pushed the tail of my t-shirt up, exposing my hip bone and lower

abdomen, her fingers leaving trails of ice as she gently pushed it all the way up, and I saved her the trouble by leaning up and tearing it off. She had me there partially nude and vunerable, my back arched with her efforts, then I heard fabric ripping as she tore off my bra with her teeth. Okay, unusual, but _definitely_ sexy to me, exciting me further, and it was that display of want that drove me over the edge, Alice going rigid against me at the noise I made, her eyes closing and a soft snarl rolling in her throat. I was put out when she withdrew her hand far too soon, but it didn't last long, as she rose up on her knees between my thighs, looking at her soaked digits wonderingly, then tasting them, one by one, and it was like every suck she gave was a suck on my clit, which twitched with every finger. Eyes closing in seeming ecstasy, she reopened them, shining black, and grabbed my panties and my jeans in one hand and yanked upwards, ripping them free of my body, as well. It was the fastest I had ever been undressed, but this was also my first time with a vampire with superhuman strength. She grabbed my hips and pulled me into her before re-entering, and played me with a rhythm no human could play.

I reached for her, pulling her down to me by the shirt, needing her kiss again. Still, something missing... "Alice... Take off your clothes. Please. I won't– oh, fuck!– I won't touch you, I swear. I just want your body against mine," I panted to her in partial moan.

She hesitated, slowing down for a minute, then pulled her hand free of me to strip. Eyes wide, and paying close attention, I watched my beloved reveal the more sensitive parts of herself, from her tiny, perky breasts with little pale nipples, down her perfect belly to the light dusting of hair that covered her sex. "Oh my God," I breathed, taking in every bit of this divine little goddess before me. "Alice, you're beautiful."

She smiled shyly, draping herself over me, breast to breast, sex to sex, and I marveled at the fact that though she could smash me to bits, she still felt like she weighed but ninety pounds. Her hands ran up both my sides, and she bit her bottom lip as she watched me squirm beneath her, whimpering. She tucked her face beneath my chin to appreciate the pounding vessel that the predator in her craved, licking her way up it again, then kissing me softly, a very different approach to this than she had exuded before. Somewhere in the very, very, very far corner of my mind, I registered that she had regained control of the animal inside, and I was with her and only her now. She continued to move her lips with mine as she slightly shifted to where she could slide her thigh between my legs, and she shocked me by pulling mine between hers as well. What happened to I couldn't touch her?

"Slowly," she advised me, pulling away from me briefly, and she kept my eyes on hers as she cautiously began to thrust her thigh against me, and I reciprocated her action, not believing she was willing to try this. I almost felt guilty, like she was only doing it to make me happy, and if something happened to me, it would destroy her.

"Alice... you don't have to do this."

"I want it, too, Andie. Perhaps even more than you do," she informed me, leaning her forehead to mine as she ventured a bit further, rolling herself on my thigh a little faster. "I–oh. I think we'll be okay as long as we're care–" I cut her off by pulling her face back to mine, greedily kissing her. This girl was a goddess to me in every form, from feeling her wet on my thigh working towards her own climax, to an adorable moan in her throat as she kissed me, and me a shaking mess between my own arousal and yes– it was cold beneath her after a while.

I gave a noise of protest as she left my lips and traveled south with her mouth for the first time, her lips feathering their way across my nipples, and down my rib cage to my navel, and then to the right side of my hip, kissing her way across the top of my mound to the other side. Delirious was an understatement, trying not to thrash around like a cat in heat when she pulled my left leg over her shoulder, running her nose down the inside of my thigh, brushing her lips against the sensitive flesh there, as well. She straightened up on her knees as she edged my legs apart again, gazing down at the volcano she had teased to eruption, and took the tip of her right index finger up and down my slit, spreading me open and looking at the inside. She watched her own hand as it slid that single tiny finger into me, and her thumb came onto the button up top, moving that hand torturously slow and deliberate. Her finger hit something inside of me, making me cry out again, more convulsions ripping through me, then I felt another finger slide in next to its sister, and she started moving it a little faster, her thumb rolling against my clit softly, I doubted she had any pressure at all applied; she didn't have to, I exploded all over her hand for the second time.

She clicked her tongue and looked at me, shaking her head. "No fair," she pouted, poking that bitingly beautiful bottom lip out to me. "I wanted that, Andie."

"S-so, d-do it a-again," I stuttered pleadingly, wondering in my mind if I could handle it or not. Her hands alone were magical to the point of mind-shattering orgasms, so I could only hope I didn't have a heart attack while she was going down on me.

Planting one more kiss on my inner right thigh, she lowered herself onto her belly, and buried herself in me, my back arching and my throat gasping as an electric current started to electrocute me, Alice's tongue being like a live wire pressed against me. I couldn't control the ungodly things coming from my larynx, but it seemed to be incentive for my Alice, who wrapped her arms around my thighs to anchor my hips, which were about to go crazy on her face, and go that much more at it; surprising me with a _long_ suck and pull on my poor clitoris, and that was the Mother of all orgasms past as I bucked as hard as she'd allow me to, feeling the undulation and the flow from me into her mouth. Maybe it wasn't my blend of herbs and spices, the thought occured to me as I lay in her arms after I'd called her name and collapsed onto the cushion, spent for the final time. Maybe I had let her bite me and I didn't notice in the ecstasy, because that was the first time I had ever gushed on anyone's face in wave after wave, like an arterial wound pumps blood.

The aftershocks were still rocking through me when she came back up with her lips, ending where she began, and then she pulled away to take the throw blanket from the back of the couch and tuck it around me before she would cuddle with me nude. When I tried to move it in protest, she shook her head at me. "You're cold," she said matter-of-factly, "and the absence of garments helps you none."

She continued to kiss me, though now it was more like a wind down rather than teasing like before, and I sighed contentedly as she lay her head on my chest, her ear pressed against my heart, listening intently while it resumed its normal pulse. My fingertips explored her side and back as we lay together, and she also gave a sigh. "When it comes to beauty, Andrea, I have _nothing_ on you," she whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you for my first review, it made me quite happy lol. I wasn't finished with Chapter 4 quite yet, but that gave me the incentive to knock it out before work. So here we are with Andie and Alice once again, only I decided to let Alice have her say in this one. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight characters, plots, or situations, only my own characters and plots. The reprinted lyrics are from Frost's The Road Not Taken, and seem to sum up Alice's dilemma very nicely.**

**APOV:**

I let Andie fall asleep on the couch, playing with her hair, and amazed that she didn't start bleating about what all she had to do tomorrow, which I knew included work at eight the next morning. I made a mental note to wake her around six, so that she could go back to her apartment and get ready for the day, as I had ruined what clothes she wore over. I felt a tiny bit bad for that, but not too much: I had waited far too long for what had happened an hour ago. Jazz wouldn't be back until sunrise, I'd had a vision of that, so I didn't bother moving her to my bed until around three.

I lay there beside her after I'd tucked her into my useless bed, and sighed at the fact I could not sleep with her. It was just as good to see her eyes move behind their delicate covers, knowing she was dreaming about me when she whispered my name, a hand coming out to me in her slumber.

"Right here," I answered softly, wondering if she could even hear me, as I lay my hand in hers. "Forever," I added, and her fingers clasped my palm tightly.

When I had told Andie what I'd seen of her becoming an immortal, the vision went automatically hazy, telling me it was not the done deal I had thought. The very notion terrified her, and I could not blame her. Eternity is a very long time to thrive. I meant every word I said to her about how I would take care of her once she was infirm, and that I would die when she did. I had waited on Andrea Fowler for a hundred and nine years, and if she would cease to exist, so would I. What was the point in going on without her, when I would become the emotionless hull that Marcus had become when Didyme had perished? Or the vengeful harpy that Victoria had become when she lost James? The spite that led Irina to her untimely death once she begrudged us for the death of Laurent? No, I would skip those things best I could.

Andie was a perfect mate for me, both physically and mentally. Our bodies fit like two pieces to an infinite puzzle, her height only an inch or so above me, her body mass matching exactly. She had kaleidoscope eyes, such a shade of blue they were violet, and her shy smile, even if her front teeth were a tad crooked, it was adorable. She had a dark beauty mark on her left hip that for some reason I found highly arousing, and there was a tiny tattoo of a butterfly on the other side that was even more so. I loved the fact that she wore glasses, and hated that she wore clothes that were too big for her, hiding her feminine curves from prying eyes like mine. But when she looked at me with that sideways glance and bashful grin, and that blush crept up her neck, that was my most favorite thing about Andie's appearance; I relished the fact that I got to her so much, that she was _that_ in love with me, as I was with her.

Edward had made being with her sound harder than it was proving to be. As of yet, I'd only had to put myself in check twice with Andie: once when she was on her monthly and was heavy, I'd made a quick excuse to leave (I left the stove on), and I stayed away from her for the next week (inhumane torture). The other time had been hours before, when she'd been as aroused as I'd ever seen or smelled her become. Her heart pumping incessantly, blood coursing rhythmically through her veins, stirred every piece of the predator in me to take her and feed; the aroma of _her_ accumulated to an overload in my brain, and when I kissed her and tasted her tongue and felt her life fire against my own, the _need_ for her murdered that piece. The last thing it ever did was rip the clothes free of her body... I was ashamed of that, I wish I'd caught myself sooner, taken it slowly. Had I been human, perhaps I would have.

I woke her at five, after seeing that six would make her late, and as a result she would be disgruntled with me, and goodness knows I couldn't have that. "Hey, you," I whispered in her ear, tasting the rim before I pressed my lips to it softly. How amazing was it I could do that now without fighting against myself? But the best thing yet– telling her the truth about myself and my family.

"Alice?" she murmured, and I felt the same thrill I always felt when she said my name.

"Of course," I assured her, grinning into her neck, inhaling that smell that made my throat and my sex burn simultaneously, but in two completely different ways. I sampled the flesh over her jugular with another tiny flash of my tongue. Oh, _god_, the way she overcame my senses, my rationality. Just pray she doesn't overcome your self control, too, I told myself as I kissed her lips. "Did you sleep well?" I asked her when I finally pulled away from her so she could breathe. Silly human.

"Like a rock," she yawned in reply, stretching hard, then gasping sharply in pain.

"What? What's wrong? Are you okay?" I panicked, remembering what my brother had warned about his experience with Bella when she was still human. Bella had awoken with bruises the next morning, no matter how gentle he'd been.

"I'm fine," Andie said automatically, but I pulled the covers away to see for myself.

No. Oh no, I thought to myself as I scanned the damage I'd done to her delicate body. There were ruptured capillaries across her breasts, in the exact places I knew I'd kissed and suckled her flesh. I could map my path south by the bruises my lips had trailed down her abdomen, and _jesus_ look at her neck! "Andie," I whispered apologetically, barely touching my finger to the hand prints that were my own on her hips and wincing at her next gasp of pain. "I didn't see this." _Why_ had I not seen this when I began? You were the blood drinker, I answered myself, and I felt sick. _I_ had done this to her.

"Alice, I've had bruises like this from human sex," she scolded me, pushing herself upright in the bed, wincing the whole time. Then she looked down at herself for the first time, and there was no masking the surprise on her beautiful face.

"Really?" I said sarcastically. "You always looked like you were mugged on a subway after sex with Daphne?" I regretted the tone immediately when she shot me a look of incredulous hurt, and if I could have blushed, I would have. As it was, I merely looked away from her, unable to look at those dark purple eyes. How could I have done that to her, knowing the risks? How _dare_ I? And then take that tone with her like it's her fault. How was that love? These emotions for her were going to the death of us both if I didn't fix it very soon.

"Well, you can mope about it if you want, but just so you know, last night was the best night of my life, Alice Cullen, and I'll be _damned_if I am going to let you and your pissy attitude ruin my good mood!" With that, she threw herself over my lap and mashed her mouth against mine.

I hadn't seen that one coming, either. What was going on with me? I could usually see the future with Andie perfectly because I was so attuned to her energy. It wasn't right.

I allowed the assault for a few seconds, then I gently pulled away from her, giving my own wince at the way she looked at me murderously, daring me to contradict her, at which I hesitated, but then said what was on my mind. "Andie," I said evenly, knowing she was not going to like the words I was about to say to her. "I think we should hold off on the physical for... well, I think it should be a while."

Her face melted into sorrow, and my chest ached. "A while?" she repeated, sliding off of me and moving away from me on my king-sized bed.

I unconsciously held a hand out towards her, not wanting her out of my range of touch, but she jerked back a little more, hurt in the rejection, and my chest hurt that much more. "Please, Andie, be reasonable," I bawled desperately, gesturing at the wreck I had made across her skin. "As gentle as I could be, and I _still_ hurt you! Your lips are swollen, too, and you know what that's from!"

She glared at me, and I felt embarrassed that she looked lovely to me in a temper, something I'd rarely seen from her, and to make matters worse for myself, she was still bare assed naked, teasing me all the more. "I _like_ the fact that I'm sore, Alice, I get it, you're a vampire, but you're still you! And this little bit of pain means you were _here, _you kissed and nuzzled every part of me last night, and I'm thankful there are marks and soreness, so I don't confuse it with a dream. It was so amazing to be with you like that, Alice." She looked at me with tears standing in her beautiful eyes, shaking her head like she couldn't believe my countenance.

"You won't be able to work like that," I pointed out, but I can't lie: her defense had moved me.

"So? They can get along without me for now, I've only missed two days since I started there. You're not getting out of this discussion, so stop trying to distract me."

I smirked at her, raising an eyebrow at her, and she also stopped, realizing the same thing I was: we had switched the roles from last night, with Andie being the aggressor now. "Fine," I said simply, sarcastically giving in. "You win. We'll keep at it until I shatter your pelvis, and then maybe even after that."

She gave me an open mouthed stare, shaking her head again. "I don't like you when you're like this," she grumbled, turning away from me. "You're being childish."

I laughed; I couldn't help it. This little human girl arguing with me heatedly, an immortal more than capable of killing her, and she wasn't the least bit afraid. When she whipped around at my laughter with a look that made _me_ a bit fearful, I tried to explain that to her, which made her roll her eyes.

"Of _course_ I'm not afraid of you, Alice, _sheesh_," she growled, turning in circles, looking around for clothes that weren't there. Then the memory of their fate dawned in her eyes and her face went beet red. "Um... off topic, but... can I borrow something to put on until I get home?"

I patted the bed next to me. "Come back to me, first."

She didn't move, just stared at me like I'd lost my mind. "After all of that, you want me in bed with you, fully nude?" she said in a flat tone, gesturing to me.

"Andie..." I let her name ring on the air by itself, and she deflated under it's spell, an effect we'd always had on each other, unable to stay angry with one another, though we bickered off and on pretty regularly.

She came back to her side of the bed and slid back onto the mattress, and I pulled her over to me easily, wrapping my arms around her, feeling her shiver at my cold arms on her flesh. I sighed, wishing hard that I was human for her, that this could be easy for us. "What's wrong, Alice?" she whispered, running her hands along my forearms.

I didn't answer at first, letting my name echo in my mind. When she nudged me, I picked my face up from her bare shoulder and found her eyes mere inches from mine. "You need to feed," Andie told me softly, noting the darkening color of my irises, and I chuckled sardonically again because of her utter acceptance. It had delightfully surprised me.

"And I will," I replied, smiling at her.

"Tell me what's on your mind, please?" she reminded me lightly, turning a bit to face me completely.

"I wish I could be human for you," I replied truthfully. "I wish that this morning could have turned into a round two, and that we were both fully involved, with no reason to restrict ourselves. I wish I could convince you after to call out of work and we could sleep the rest of the morning away together, and get lunch when we wake up. I wish we could spend the afternoon in the park sitting in the sun together, talking about the plans for the night. And I wish that we could do it all over again."

She was quiet, then she asked in barely more than a whisper, "Why can't you go into the sun? Does it hurt you?"

I shook my head, smiling. "I love being in the sun. I just can't do it very often, and have to be in a secluded area away from humans. My skin reacts differently to the light, vampires glitter in the sun," I told her, thinking that I might show her sometime soon, if we could steal away to the country, or perhaps when I took her to meet the family.

"Glitter how?"

I thought for a second for the best description, and giggled. "Like diamonds, kinda," I said and she gave a tiny smile. "What?" I asked her, laughing.

"You _would_ glitter like the most valuable gem on the planet," she teased me, and I laughed again, kissing her. I tried to pull away quickly, but Andie followed me, not letting me go, and I really didn't try to put up any resistance. I would never be able to tell this girl no.

After a few minutes, she pulled away, but still rubbed her nose against mine. "We could sleep the morning away, I'm not averse to being here with you. After all, I have to call out anyway."

I bit my lip. "I can't sleep. We don't sleep."

She gave me a quizzical look, her head tilted to the left just a little, then she said, "Huh. So you just pretended to sleep?"

I nodded. "I didn't mind, trust me. Those nights were my favorite nights, until last night happened. I love being the one you fall asleep beside, Andie."

She was quiet, contemplating, playing with the neck band of the t-shirt I'd thrown on while she slept. "So, you hold me, all night, and watch me sleep?"

I nodded, tightening my arms around her now. "Nearly every night," I admitted, and her eyes narrowed. "The only nights I'm not with you, I'm hunting."

She stared at me for a few seconds, and a slow grin grew on her lips, stretching her mouth wide. "You come over when I'm sleeping to hold me?"

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but it was unnecessary, as she squealed and kissed me, blowing my mind: I expected her to be angry at me for invading on her privacy. "Alice, that is the sweetest thing I've ever heard!" Then she froze. Oh no, the realization. "You've seen me masturbate, haven't you." Not a question.

Honesty is the best policy in these uncomfortable situations, I told myself sternly, as I fought back the lie I was going to tell her. "A few times," I admitted sheepishly, looking away from her; her embarrassment lay in the fact that she would say my name from deep within whatever fantasy played behind those amethyst eyes.

"So, you knew how I felt. You knew without a doubt."

"I do," I agreed, scared that she was about to blow.

Andie scoffed agitatedly, throwing herself off of me, getting to her feet again, and starting to pace the length of my bedroom, her hands twisting in front of her. "I'm always the last to know! _Christ_! And what _really_ pisses me off is that _I could feel you there with me_. Some part of me _knows_ when you're around, it can sense you! But I wrote all that off to wishful thinking, and now you're sitting here _telling_ me you saw!"

I flashed to her side, my speed not even causing her to flinch, and I grabbed her wrist imploringly. "Andie, your feelings weren't the enigma for me, it was what you planned to do about them. I got the answer I wanted, it's fine. You weren't the last to know anything, we found out at the same time, when you made the decision to be with me."

She pointed a finger at me. "You can stop the stalker shit, now, you may come in any time you'd like."

I grinned. "You got off harder because I was there," I taunted her, and she closed her eyes as a visible shudder went down her core.

"It's not fair," she pouted, looking at the carpet beneath her bare feet. "I never got to sit around and just _watch_ you get yourself off."

"Who said I just sat there and watched?"

Her head shot up at my words and she smiled when she saw the glint in my eye. "We tease too much to be playing the abstinent card," she noted, and rightly.

I bit my lip. That damage had been done. There was no denying that it could– and probably would– happen again. "Just– call your supervisor. I'll be in the shower. Join me when you're finished," I said softly, trying not to put the promise in my voice, but failing. I knew what was going to happen in there. I'd signed away the easy path when I fell in love with a human girl.

_I shall be telling this with a sigh_

_Somewhere ages and ages hence:_

_Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-_

_ I took the one less traveled by,_

_And that has made all the difference._

**_Keep those reviews coming... I'm working out 5 in my head as I type..._**


	5. Chapter 5

1Chapter Five

If I had thought life would be as normal for me as it was before "me and Alice", I was mistaken. Strange thing number one being the phone call to my father in South Carolina, two weeks after that first night with her.

"Hey, Daddy!" I said brightly when he picked up the phone at our house in Charleston.

"Hey there Butterbean!" he replied jovially, using the same nickname he had always called me. I could just imagine him pushing his glasses up his nose. "Are you staying warm up there in the city? I heard it was going to be a white Christmas for y'all up there."

"Yes, sir. I was calling about Christmas, actually, to let you know I'll be bringing home a friend." Alice had agreed to the visit only after making sure the weather would be right, and as it would be a freezing rain that entire week, she saw no problems.

"Oh, yeah? A friend, or a _girl_friend?" My father knew everything about me, he was all I had growing up; my mother and baby sister had died when I was six, due to complications during childbirth.

I smiled softly, kicking myself into a spin in my computer chair. "Well," I said slowly, the excitement building in my chest. "A girlfriend. Do you remember the friend that came home with me my first summer home from school?"

"The really small one?"

I grinned, picturing his face screwed up in thought, scratching his salt and pepper beard. "Yes, sir, that's Alice. She'll be with me when I drive down on the twentieth. Is that okay?"

He didn't answer at first, and that made me nervous because my daddy was never one to hesitate. "I reckon," he finally said, and I exhaled in relief. "But wasn't she the one that made the horses go funny?"

Oh, shit, he remembered! Unbeknownst to me, the horses had picked up Alice's scent in the pasture, and recognized her for the vampire she was. In result, Daddy had to replace a section of fence they destroyed, running away from her. "I mean, yeah, she was in the pasture with me when it happened, but I don't think _she_ made them go crazy," I lied, hating every letter of it, a bad taste in my mouth. "I'm pretty sure it was the motor of the ATV. Or maybe a snake. I don't know."

"Hmm," he grunted, unconvinced, and I winced, hoping he would drop the subject. "She was real pretty," he went on, and I relaxed again. "Happy to see you've done yourself well. What's she majoring in?"

Safe subject. "Cultural Arts, but she took Behavioral Science for kicks, and that's where we met in freshman year." All true, only I left out that the professor was an old classmate of Alice's, and she had taken the class to see how well he taught, as he'd been as dense as a brick as a student there.

"Cultural Arts," he murmured reflectively. "Is she from a rich family? Blowing her college education like that?"

My mouth fell open. I'd never heard my father belittle anyone for their choices in life, and it offended me greatly that it was Alice he was judging. It _really_ pissed me off. "Daddy!" I scolded him, scandalized. "I don't think that's any of your business, really, and I'll have you know she's _brilliant_! Blowing her– Daddy, I have to go. That was uncalled for! I'll call you soon. I love you." I hung up my cell phone and slung it across my living room, where I heard it hit the opposite wall and clatter to the wooden boards below. Blowing her college education, indeed! It's not like I could tell him she was an art major in every area, and that she had been studying music and the arts for nearly a century. It hurt my feelings that he judged her so harshly when he didn't even know her. His opinion meant so much to me, and he'd let me down for the first time in twenty years. I found myself crying, shaking in my overly large sweat shirt, and I wished really hard that Alice were there with me.

Tonight was the first night in two weeks that I had been awake and alone, with Alice off hunting with the affable Jasper (who was over the moon about me and his sister), and would not be back until right at daybreak. I missed my mate–gah, that word again!– something fierce, almost enough to make her take me with them, though I knew that would not be wise: I'd recently found out that Jasper still has a hard time abstaining from human blood. I did not feel threatened by him, quite the contrary, as Jazz and I hit it off playing an Xbox game we were mutually infatuated with, running around for hours shooting at each other. I'd offered to wait up for her as it was a Saturday, and I had nothing planned for Sunday other than homework and perhaps a run. She had politely demurred, promising that she would be next to me when I awoke.

The conversation with my father disturbed me deeply, though why I could not understand; and even when I tried to zone out on my homework, I gave it twenty minutes and then closed my math book and took off my glasses to rub my eyes when the numbers began to bleed together on the page. Numbers had never been my best friend, anyway. I opted instead for the game Jasper and I loved to play so much, but after even ten minutes of it I was bored and tossing the controller away. Screw it, I thought to myself as I stood up and wandered over to my bookcase, scanning the much loved and abused spines of some of my favorite novels, smiling when I chose my childhood favorite, _Little Women_ by Louisa May Alcott.

I made a cup of chai tea, and changed into a long t-shirt and some boxers to settle down beneath the blankets of my perfectly made full sized bed. I slid my glasses up before they fell off, and the action reminded me of my father, as it always had, as my bad eyesight stems from him. Why would he be so tough on Alice when he barely knew her? It didn't add up, he'd never judged my friends before... but then, I'd only had a handful in my life, and none as important as Alice. Perhaps his attitude was protective, he knew how Daphne leaving had affected me. Yeah, that has to be it, I thought to myself as I cracked my book open to the first chapter, settling in to read a book I could already quote.

I woke up with a sharp gasp some hours later, something silky and ice cold sliding across my belly, shocking me awake. I heard a familiar giggle before I felt an unmistakable brush of cool lips on my warm cheek. "Morning," Alice chuckled, kissing my face again.

"Is it?" I asked sleepily, stretching hard and opening my eyes to look at her, and with great difficulty tearing my eyes away from hers, to look at my bedroom window, seeing the panes still black with night.

"It's nearly five," Alice answered as I rolled over and buried my face in her chest, breathing deeply, then nearly gagging with the stench hanging on her clothes, making her laugh.

"You didn't change, did you?" I grumbled, scooting away from her to the edge of the bed.

"May I borrow–?"

"Please do," I broke in shortly, stabbing a finger in the direction of my dresser.

"I love how you just boss me around, pointing and grunting," Alice complained sarcastically, throwing the blankets to the foot of the bed as she got up with an aggravated human pace; and I groaned as cold air blew across my exposed legs.

"Jesus, Alice!" I hissed, reaching down and snatching them back up, taking off my glasses and setting them on my night stand. I'd fallen asleep in them earlier. "Don't come in reeking like a wild animal and I wouldn't have to." I felt like I was scolding her for smelling like booze after she'd been at a bar all night with her brother.

Alice gave me a smirk and flipped her middle finger to me as she entered my bathroom, slamming the door behind her. We were shameless in the ways we flirted, I thought to myself with a yawn, and I heard the shower turn on behind the closed door. I fought with myself about getting up and following her in, but I wanted to sleep. At least I knew that if she were showering, she planned to get close to me, and she couldn't be too pissy with me. I smiled at the thought as I settled back down, warm again, yawning contentedly about getting to fall asleep again, only this time properly, as Alice had come home to me.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, A.S.R. here. Thank you for your interest in my story, and your patience with the pace it's moving along. I promise the good stuff is coming, don't lose faith quite yet! Here is the sixth chapter, ready for your reviews! It's kind of long, could be good, could be bad, it's your call. Enjoy.**

"Doesn't Jasper get lonely when you're over every night?" I asked Alice on my phone as I shoveled a salad down my throat at work that Monday.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Her tinkling voice was sending shivers through me, but I repressed them best I could by concentrating on the words themselves. "Rose and Emmett are flying in tonight, so Jazz is going to meet them airport, and the three of them are going to meet us at the theater around eight. Rosalie loves _The Nutcracker_." Alice had gotten me tickets to see my favorite ballet for an early Christmas present, but I had just found out that it would be a group outing. I didn't mind, I was excited to finally meet more of her family.

"I get to meet Rosalie and Emmett?" I was a tiny bit anxious to meet Alice's beautiful older sister, whom I'd only seen in photographs. Alice had admitted to me that Rosalie was not thrilled that Alice had fallen for a human. "First Edward, now you, too? What the hell?" were her exact words, as I was told.

"Yup," Alice told me cheerfully now, and I groaned in the slightest bit, and she tinkled that tiny laugh that makes me melt. "Emmett is quite excited."

I smiled at that. I'd always enjoyed Alice and Jasper's stories about their goofy big brother, and I looked forward to finally meeting him. Then the absence of his wife's name faded the grin. "Rosalie not so much, huh?"

"Rose will be fine, don't worry about her. She's tenacious by nature," Alice told me, and I chuckled sardonically at the way my mate downplayed her sister's attitude. "She's not as opposed to the idea of you being with me as she was Bella being with Edward," she added pointedly, hoping to put me at ease, but it didn't work.

"Yeah," I sighed, sitting back in my chair and glancing at the clock on the wall above the cafeteria door, lamenting my last two hours at work. "I suppose I'll be home around five-thirty or six, I have to drop some books off at the library on my way to the gym, and I may take a quick browse while I'm there."

"Don't get lost in the stacks, Andie," Alice warned me. She knew me so well, and it made me smile. "We have a very busy night. And I don't understand _why_ you still go to the gym. Don't you get enough cardio with me?" My face went blood red at her innuendo, my mind replaying events from the morning before. Alice had perfected making love to me without _so_ much damage to my body, so she had been more than willing when I woke up with a psuedo hard on.

"Mmm, not _enough_. I could never get enough cardio with you," I toyed with her, grinning.

"Well, we should work on that," she purred seductively, and I felt the phantom of her kiss on my jugular, sending delicious chills through me. "Then that hour you spend working out three times a week could be spent with _me_."

"Hey, this stomach you like to kiss on so much needs that hour, three times a week." Looking to the clock again, I sighed heavily. "I have to get back to work. I'll see you in a few hours."

"Most definitely. I love you."

"As I love you," I returned warmly, my heart filling to the bursting point with my love for my Alice.

I was still pink in the face with my silly grin etched on when I reclaimed my position in front of my computer at the nurses' station. "Alice on the brain?" my co-worker Mandy teased me as she handed me a patient's file.

"Always," I answered with a smile, opening the folder to start entering the written information into the database. "We're going to the ballet tonight, with a few of her siblings, and it's my first time meeting two of them."

"Nervous?"

I gave a hysterical laugh in the back of my mind, thinking of Rosalie, and silently said that she had no idea _how_ nervous I really was. "Nah, not at all," I told Mandy aloud, not looking up at her as I typed, staring intently at the open file. "I'm saving the nerves for Mom and Dad." This was partly true, as I was more nervous to meet Carlisle and Esme than any of Alice's other four siblings, or her niece, for that matter.

"Do you know when you'll be meeting the parentals, yet?" Mandy asked, and I shook my head, which was also the truth. Carlisle and Esme were on an extended holiday, and Alice had no idea when they would return to the States. Mandy patted my shoulder reassuringly. "I'm sure they'll love you, you're a really good kid, Andie."

I gave a grateful smile at that, appreciative of her support, though she really had no clue about the situation. I watched as she walked away to continue her rounds, and sighed at the fact that I still had so long until I could see my mate. As if on cue, my cell phone vibrated, and I opened a text from Alice, blushing furiously at the words: _Thinking about you... if you know what I mean._

Boy, did I ever. I sent a quick text back. _Don't tease me while I'm working, it's rude lol._

I went back to my task, and then my phone went off again, this time with a picture message, and I hesitated for a minute before I decided to look, anyway. With a sharp gasp, I felt the heat flood through me as I gazed at Alice's dripping lips, and I don't mean the ones on her face. Her tiny, talented digits were teasing it, and I shuddered at the memory of how those fingers worked. _You're evil, Alice_, I texted back with a giggle, and I saved the image to my phone. Lewd photo of Alice number 27, I thought to myself with a grin.

I went by the library as planned, a vague idea of what book I was going to peruse the shelves for, and I was so caught up in the thought that it surprised me when I turned the corner of the row and ran into Alice standing there with the very book open in her hands, reading it. She looked up at me with that smile, and I nearly became a puddle on the carpet. "I figured I'd help you out finding this," she told me smugly, waving it at me. "We're extremely pressed for time, and had I left it to you, we would have been late to meet Rose and the boys."

I ignored that for the moment, pulling her to me and kissing her for the first time in what felt like days, but had only been hours. She pulled away from me when it started to become a little heated, and gave me that single-dimpled grin, the right corner of her addictive mouth pulling up. "Not a wise decision to rape me in public, Andie. Come on, let's get you checked out so we can go to your gym."

"You're coming to the gym with me?" The information surprised me so much I forgot to goad her about the time being an excuse to see me sooner.

"I am," she affirmed, leading me out of the stacks by the hand and towards the counter.

But what about all those people in there, beating hearts, sweating, the rushing blood? Wouldn't that bother her? I asked her this in her ear, and she looked at me with an affronted stare. "Andie! Have you no faith?" she asked, and I blushed in shame. Of course I had faith in her ability to abstain, I was merely worried for her having to fight the animal in herself.

"I– you know I do! I just– I don't want you to have to suffer," I explained, but she was smiling at me, so I knew I hadn't really offended her.

The librarian was staring at us expectantly, and I jumped when she cleared her throat to catch our attention. "I'm sorry," I told her as I took the book from Alice's hands and placed it on the counter.

Once we were in my car, I looked over at Alice and shook my head at her as she played D.J. on my iPod, settling for The Beatles, which I knew she loved. So as the opening notes to "Love Me Do" rang out of my speakers, I reached over for her hand. I was still in a kind of awe that she belonged to me, and I found myself wondering for the millionth time what she saw in me. I didn't question her feelings, I knew she was in love with me, the look in her eyes when we were together told me all I needed to know. The more I thought about it, the less I wanted to go to the gym, other plans forming in my mind.

When I turned the car onto my street, she looked over at me with a grin. "Oh, yeah?" I felt her tighten her fingers on my hand, her thumb caressing it.

"Maybe," I said vaguely, shrugging my shoulders.

"You have an appetite that could rival a newborn," she said with an airy chuckle, shaking her head at me in wonder.

I glanced at her as I pulled into my parking garage, waving my card in front of the gate laser. "What do you mean by that?"

"Newborn vampires only think about two things: blood and sex. Their appetite for both is insatiable."

Blood and sex, huh? I thought back to Alice telling me about her vision of me as a vampire. I wondered if I had a blood lust in it, and that took me into a whole new place in my head, imagining myself with a human being's head cocked to one side, my teeth sunk deep into it. Blood. Forever. Nothing else. Could I really be destined for that? I looked at my angel as I pulled into a parking space and put my car in park. But forever meant Alice. But the blood. Ugh. I didn't even really care for the sight of it, which is why I remained in hospital book keeping, so how I could I spend eternity surviving on it alone?

"Andie?" Alice's voice brought me back, and I realized I had been staring at her with my mough hanging open for some long seconds.

"Sorry," I mumbled, looking away from her, shutting off the engine and pulling my key loose from the ignition.

"Are you okay? What did you see?" she asked worriedly, placing a hand on my arm. "You were lost in your head there for a minute, and it didn't look like you were happy about it."

I didn't say anything, and she gasped, realizing what I might have been thinking. "Andie- it wouldn't be like that forever. You wouldn't be a monster. I would help you through that, if you were to become like me. I would protect you." I didn't answer her still, afraid I would throw up if I opened my mouth at all. She moved that hand on my arm up to my cheek, and traced a finger over my cheekbone. "Baby... look at me." I shifted my gaze to her, my eyes tearing up at her tone, noting that was the first time she'd called me that. "I love you. I will stand by you, no matter _what_." She leaned to brush her lips against mine, and I sighed, looking at the long walk to the elevator, feeling weak.

"I'll carry you," she offered with a grin, and I couldn't help but smile back, knowing she tote me in one hand if I allowed it.

"I can walk," I replied after a deep breath. "Alice, if I ever become like you, promise me something."

"Anything," she answered immediately, straightening up in her seat.

I cleared my throat. "If I ever kill a human, promise me you won't hate me for it."

She gave me a smile. "I can definitely promise that. But I also promise we will try everything for that not to happen."

We spent the afternoon curled up on my couch with each other, Alice holding me and playing with my hair as we watched The History Channel, my thoughts still trained on "what-if". So far that I'd seen, Alice's visions were accurate 99.9% of the time, and though I'd made no decisions to change, the feeling that I would indeed share her life for a very real eternity was set in my heart. I wondered if she'd seen anything more on the subject, but I was terrified to know, and I doubted she would say anything to me unless I asked.

I happened to look at the clock right at six-fifteen, jumping to feet, adrenaline pumping because I was running way late on getting ready. I still had to shower before getting dressed, and we would have to leave my apartment in an hour at least to get to the theater by eight. "Alice! Why didn't you remind me to get ready?" I laughed, shocked that she had let me lay there that long.

"You still want to go?" Her eyes lit up, and she sat up off the couch excitedly.

"Why wouldn't I? It was just... It's okay, Alice, I'm fine." Partly true. The blood was the heaviest thing on my mind, but the idea of Alice forever was tantalizing. Torn is not a viable word for the emotions in my chest.

"Great! Well, what are you waiting for, silly? Go get in the shower!" She slapped my butt as I took off for my room, in overdrive for the night.

An hour later I was sitting next to Alice in a cab on our way to meet them, and her hand was resting on my thigh. It remained still, but I thought about how I had ruined the mood for us earlier, and I hoped I hadn't let her down too badly about that. I would have to make it up to her. I was thinking about how I was going to do that when she looked at me with a pointed "Ahem."

"Huh?" Gosh, I was _so _articulate in her presence.

"Planning something?"

Damn visions, I thought to myself. "Stop cheating," I told her with a grin.

There was a crowd in front of the theater when we arrived, and Alice helped me out of the vehicle politely before she was all of a sudden swung away from me and into the arms of a tall, burly man, who laughed and spun her around. "Alice!" he said happily.

"Emmett! Put me down!" she laughed back, beating a tiny fist against his back uselessly, and her brother set her back down on her feet beside me.

"Alice!" A breathtaking blonde beauty now closed her pale arms around my tiny mate, hugging her hard. "I've missed you so much!"

When they broke apart, Alice reached behind herself and scooped me forward, beaming proudly at her siblings. "Emmett, Rose, I want you to meet my Andie. Andie, this is my brother and sister."

Emmett's grin grew wider, and Rosalie's face dimmed, but she didn't look at me like a carcass, either. "Wow," Emmett said, looking me up and down, making me blush, pulling my over coat tighter around me. The dress Alice had bought for me to wear was tight up top with thin straps, so I felt exposed. "Nice to meet you, after all the raving I've heard about you."

Rosalie didn't say anything.

"She raves about me?" I looked at Alice, who hid her face in my shoulder, making me laugh, and I kissed the top of her head happily.

"Soft word," was the first thing Rosalie said, rolling her gold eyes at Alice, but faintly smiling.

Alice pulled me forward, and we both gave Jasper a hug as well, then the five of us made our way to the entrance. I sat between Alice and Emmett during the show, and Alice kept a firm hold the whole time, both of us like children seeing Clara and company for the first time. I squealed when the Rat King attacked, and cheered in a whisper as the Prince came to save the day, and Alice giggled at me, while I thought I heard Rosalie scoff. After the show, we said our goodbyes, and though I encouraged Alice to go home and visit with her family, she insisted on accompanying me to my apartment, reasoning that she would be with them while I was working the next day.

It was late when we arrived back at my apartment, and I was dead on my feet after ebeing awake and active for eighteen hours straight. Speaking of feet, mine were killing me after wearing the heels Alice swore were the _only_ shoes to wear with my dress, and I whined the whole walk to my bed, falling face down across it. Alice slipped my shoes off, and unzipped the back of my dress, planting light kisses down my spine, making me whimper in an entirely different fashion. "Come on," she whispered tenderly, rolling me over. "Let's get you ready for bed, and I'll rub your feet. I owe you for looking incredibly sexy in those heels."

I rolled my eyes at her, letting her strip me and then slipping into a pair of shorts and a tank top, giggling at the tickle from my left foot as Alice rubbed at the aching arch. "Easy," I told her, not believing she was really massaging my feet. No one had ever done that for me before.

"Ticklish?" she asked, testing me by running a finger down the arch, and I convulsed involuntarily, laughing, trying to pull my foot back to me, but she held tight. "Uh oh," she taunted me, attacking me mercilessly, and I flopped around in my bed howling in laughter and pleading with her to stop.

"Alice! Oh God, baby, please stop! Hahaha! Please!"

She was on top of me in vampire speed, waiting on me to catch my breath, then she bent down and kissed me very sweetly, keeping her face against mine. "That's the first time I've ever heard you say anything like 'Alice, oh god, please stop'. Usually you're screaming 'Oh god, Alice, please _don't_ stop'," she teased me, and I squirmed as she pressed herself down on my hips, grinding a bit.

"True," I agreed, kissing her persuasively. Hell, I found myself thinking as we wound each other up in foreplay, if I ended up a vampire, I bet making love to her would be the bigger appetite for me. That didn't sound so bad... I couldn't wait for the day she finally let me touch her.

**A/N : More Cullens to come, and Jacob and the Black Pack (haha) too. Stay tuned for Andie's first visit to Forks.**


	7. Chapter 7

**AlicePOV**

_White. Flight cancelled. Roads too much to drive, foot after foot of snow. Andie's eyes swimming with unshed tears. _I shook my head as the vision ended, deciding that we'd have to leave a day before scheduled if Andie wanted to see her father for Christmas. Jasper was looking at me with his head tilted to one side, asking silently what I had seen. "Weather," I grunted, pulling out my phone to text Andie and tell her about the vision.

"Your trip to see Andie's father? Are you cancelling?" he asked concernedly, leaning forward. Sweet Jazz, my hero.

I shook my head, sending the text, placing the phone next to me on the sofa. Rosalie gave a snort from behind me, where she and Emmett sat on a recliner, cuddled up and whispering to each other about betting on college football. "What, Rose?" I asked wearily, tired of her constant stream of comments and scoffs whenever Andie was brought up.

"I still don't understand the pull of a human," she told me, rolling her eyes, flicking her hair. "I thought we'd learned our lesson with the Bella fiasco, and here you go falling in love with another one. Cullens Love Humans, act two, scene one: Alice meets Andie."

"Fuck off, Rose," I said just as wearily, too worn down from three days constant bickering between us about my mate. I smiled a little, thinking about how I'd finally found my _mate_, my eternity... well, my next 70 years, if I were lucky. I hated to be away from her for any longer than necessary, and even then I had toyed with the idea of asking her to quit her job. I figured that was a bit much, and Jasper agreed: don't smother the girl just yet.

"Alice, I'm sorry, I really am," she repeated for the thousandth time (okay, not literally). "Maybe if I knew she wanted to be with you, and not fucking die and leave you here. I don't like that shit at all."

"She wouldn't be leaving me here," I murmured, not looking at any of them, as this was the first time I'd given any clue to my plans, post-Andie's life. "And besides, aren't you the one always arguing for the human to _remain_ human?" I went on, raising my voice so she could hear me clearly. "A bit hypocritical, Rosalie."

Rose looked away from me, biting her lip against her temper, but she knew I had her on that one. "It's different," she muttered, still not looking at me. "Bella had options. She could have went the other way. She didn't, she went the way I advised against, and it ended up okay, after everything was over. Andie... She doesn't have those... options. She's the girl that would end up alone, if she did not have you. You would be a devastated husk for eternity, if you did not have her. It's just that... _why _does she have to be an _intelligent_ human that weighs her life and the prospect of literal eternal love on a grand scale? The one time that it would make perfect sense to give it all to you?" She finally looked at me, giving me a tiny smile. Rosalie approved of Andie. She just didn't like the fact Andie had no plans to change for me. "But, what did you mean by she wouldn't be leaving you here?" She asked this with a brusque tone, and the sweet side of Rosalie disappeared as quickly as it had come.

I jumped at the question, and looked down at my lap. "You all know. It's the same thing Edward planned to do. Only, this time it makes more sense to me than when he was going to do it. I understand his position completely." I would not live another hour after her demise. There would be no point for my existence without hers.

"You know we couldn't allow that," Emmett said softly, sadly, shaking his head at the thought. "Besides, Andie could always change her mind."

"You would have no choice, Emmett," I answered him, looking him directly in the eyes. "I would never give up trying to go be with her in the real death. Never."

My phone went off beside me with that tone that told me it was my Andie. _When should we go, then? I have to pack, I haven't even started, _I read silently, smiling at her procrastination; I'd been packed for two days already.

_We should leave in the morning. I'll go to your place right now and pack your things, and start dinner for you. I just need to hunt first. _I sent the text and got to my feet, sliding my phone in my pocket. "I'll see you guys in a bit. I'm going to hunt, then going to Andie's to cook her dinner. She'll be home in four hours."

Rosalie laughed. "You're a housewife, Alice," she pointed out, and I gave her the finger.

"Am not, stop it," I whined, ducking out of the door to head down to my car. I would drive out to the state park and leave it there while I ran deep into the woods for some quick grab and go.

By the time Andie got home at six-thirty, I had her clothes and accessories packed and by the front door, her baked chicken and rice on the table with a cold glass of sweet tea, and the dishes from making dinner washed and put away. Okay, so maybe Rose had a point. I was just like a housewife. "Alice, you really didn't have to do that," Andie said, blushing at the sight of the food on the table. "It probably smells horrible to you."

I shrugged, grinning. It didn't smell like something I would put anywhere near my mouth, but she didn't need to know that. Her blush, however, smelled just as divine as it always did, and I took a big whiff of that, smiling gently to myself. I opened my eyes when Andie gave a snort of laughter and gave me a stink-eye. "Okay, Countess," she joked and I rolled my eyes as I pulled her chair out for her, swooping in to peck her cheek as she sat down.

"Funny," I told her in a tone that clearly said otherwise, taking a seat across from her. "So, I'm going to drive down, if that's okay with you. I figure we can be there fairly quicker with me behind the wheel." I jumped right into my thoughts from earlier, not wishing to draw it out into a big thing, but the way she looked at me with her mouth full told me I was getting the long haul, anyway.

"What are you trying to say?" she asked me after she'd swallowed and wiped her mouth on a napkin.

"Nothing," I said quickly, reaching over and putting a hand on her forearm. " I just thought that since I don't have to sleep and you do, I should drive." Lame, and I knew it was.

Miraculously, she didn't argue further, just gave me a suspicious look as she continued eating. I gave a tiny sigh of relief, though I knew that the conversation was most likely not over. She finished her meal in peace, and I swept up the dishes before she could lay a finger on them, and left her laughing at the table as I swooped with vampire speed around them counter and washed them. "Show off," she called me, and I giggled at the truth in her words. Maybe I did like to flaunt just a bit in front of her.

* * *

I glanced over at Andie, sleeping like a baby against my arm, and shifted into fifth gear a we hit the Interstate. I saw no reason to wake her, as I had spent all night lying in bed next to her on my lap top, planning my route, and had only left her to load her things into the trunk of the BMW. I wrapped a blanket around her and carried her down as well, buckling her into the passenger's seat, and then we were off. In the last hour, her head had come to rest on my shoulder, and I minded not a bit, leaning and kissing the top of her head, nuzzling her. She sighed in her sleep, and I smiled once again at my good fortune.

She finally woke up around eight-thirty that morning, opening her eyes, shutting them again, only to have them fly back open and sit up straight as a rail. "Alice! Where are we?" She whipped her head around in confusion, finally looking at me with a sleepily disoriented look.

"Somewhere in Virginia," I said absently, glancing down at my GPS, not that I really needed it.

"Somewhere in _Virginia_?" she asked incrediously, her mouth falling open. "Alice– what– when did we– what the hell is going on?"

I giggled, and she threw herself back against the seat with a huff, crossing her arms over her chest. "Where are my glasses?" she grumbled, not looking at me, but I knew this attitude would pass. I opened the glove box and handed her silver framed lenses to her and she muttered a thanks as she slipped them on. "You could have given me a forewarning," she said to me after a few minutes silence.

I shrugged, not sure why she was making a big deal out of it. "I just figured it would be faster for you, if you slept through some of it. I couldn't sleep, anyway, so it's no big thing," I joked and she didn't say anything.

"I still didn't like waking up like that," she went on moodily, and she shifted in the seat until she was back against me. Why was she so grumpy? Wait. Oh no. What was that smell?

"Andie," I said with my teeth clenched, "back away." I held my breath as she scooted back to the door, looking at me warily. She had started her monthly, and didn't know it, yet.

"Alice?" she asked uncertainly.

I couldn't answer her, I couldn't open my mouth. The windows in the car were up, the scent I had only just registered was swirling all around me, filling up the air that was inside with us. I felt a violent tremor rip through my muscles as I fought the predator, who was aching to sniff the air, to taste the scent in its mouth, and stupidly, Andie touched my forearm.

"Don't!" I snarled at her, making her jump, and I swallowed the next bout of anger and said in a hiss, "I'm sorry, Andie. You've... you're bleeding." I felt horrible for snarling at her, for scaring her, but there was nothing I could do, just fight the demon, fight the instinct, and for all that was holy, not rip my mate's tender throat out and drink her dry. All the air I'd held in my lungs was gone with that short explanation I'd given her. I took a small breath through my nose, growling at myself for it when my throat set aflame. I jerked the car off the road and came to skidding stop on the shoulder, bolting out of the car and into the woods, dredging deep pulls of fresh air in through my nose and out of my mouth to wash away the lingering scent of Andie's sweet flow. I needed to hunt. I needed to hunt badly before returning to that vehicle and sitting in that enclosed area with just me and Andie and her blood.

_Screeching tires, the squeal of metal on metal, wrenching together unnaturally. The tractor trailer jack-knifed, folding over on the black sedan, and I heard a scream, a voice I knew well. And the smell of the blood I knew even better. I tore the car apart to find her, broken, her glasses still on her shattered face, her purple eyes glassy, seeing no more..._


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry its taking so long to get to the story. If I have any readers left, I thank you for the patience. I think that Chapter Nine will be the first bit of action, as it will get the story rolling. Sorry these last two chapters are so short, I was going to make it all one big chapter, but it seemed a bit extreme. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight characters, plots, or situations. I own Andie, and all other OC. Oh, and the story.**

**AlicePOV**

I turned on my heels, dipping around in the momentum without breaking speed, hurling back to the car and to my mate, whom in a vision I had just held dead in my arms, feeling a pain I _never_ wanted to feel, keening a scream that would burst a human's brain. Avoiding that at all costs, ripping through the tree line, not slowing down a bit, not caring what humans saw what; I made it back to the driver's seat of the still-intact car and ripped the damn thing out of there, the engine screaming in my pain.

"ALICE! What the _hell_?" Andie cried out, holding on for dear life as we careened down the highway, cutting several people off, but not causing any wrecks.

I didn't answer, still holding my breath, and looked in my rear view mirror in time to see the truck come over the hill and slide sideways down it, not jack-knifing because I'd moved the car. The driver was fine, he got out of the cab cussing fluently, slinging his ball cap down. I released a bit of the breath I'd been holding, and slowed down just a wee bit as I relaxed. I dared not take a breath, the cause of that episode still fresh in my mind, and Andie growled in frustration at my silence, but all I could do was reach over and take her hand, which she allowed, surprising me. I was sure she'd pull away, after the way I'd been behaving. She studied me curiously for a minute, the look on her face adorable, and I felt one side of my mouth twitch up into a smile. She turned it into a full blown grin when she smiled at me and said, "I see a dimple. Come on, where's the other one? Huh?" Her eyes danced in mirth, and I felt a piece of me melt inside, somewhere in my chest, where I'm sure my heart once beat.

"I love you," she whispered, and I gave her a look that said the same, wishing I could tell her so. Human, and sweet. She belonged to me. She was my most valued piece of myself, the extension of my soul, and the confirmation for me that I possessed one. It had to be intact if I shared it with her, did it not?

I pulled off at the next exit and pulled up at a gas station to fill up and let her take care of her human needs, but I pushed her phone into her hands as she left the car, and she looked at me crazy, like I'd lost my mind; in truth, I was damn close to it. I let my lungs take in some scents, my instincts going crazy from the lack of information, and I smelled the air clear of her for now. I whipped out my phone as I started the gas pump, hitting her face on the touch screen to call her. When I heard the call connect, I breathed a sigh of relief. "I love you, too," I said the most important thing first. "But you started bleeding right next to me in an enclosed space, and I lost it for a second. I was going to hunt, but I had a vision..." I broke off in a shudder at the memory.

"Whoa, slow down," Andie said with a chuckle. "I got what you meant earlier about the bleeding, it explains the mood, too. What I want to know is what compelled you to tear out of there like the Devil was riding your ass in front of every human passing?"

"The vision," I said flatly, not really wanting to elaborate on it.

"Which was...?" she pressed, and I rolled my eyes at her through the phone.

"Andie, can't we just suffice it to say it wasn't a pretty picture and I saved the day?" I asked desperately, and she sighed.

"Compromise," she said, stubborn as ever. "Tell me when you're ready. Don't keep it from me, though, please."

"Fine," I grumbled, thankful that she didn't keep at it. "And as for me staying the nights with you while you're... you know, I think that I should get a room or something for week."

"Alice!" I winced at her tone, not liking the idea of being away from her any more than she did, but what choice did I have? I didn't know if I could refrain from killing her with that deliciously warm, sweet scent... I shook myself out of it to listen to what Andie was saying. "...and not to mention, you're really good about me, you know it. You come out of it. Alice, I don't _want_ to be without you, please don't stay somewhere else!"

"Andie, damn it, you know it's not safe–"

"Alice..." That tone. That voice. My name in that tone of her voice. I always broke under that one word when spoken to me that softly, that pleadingly, the way she sometimes said it when I made love to her. The tone that gives me chills, and she knows it.

"Okay," I said in barely more than a whisper. "But if I can't–"

"Then leave. I won't ask you questions, I'll know why. But you come back to me as soon as it's finished, promise me."

"I promise," I answered her truthfully. I'd always come back to her.

"I'm sorry I'm doing this to you," she said softly, and I looked up to see her crossing the parking lot to me, hanging up her phone. She stopped before she got into the car to touch my face, and I leaned into her palm, my eyes closing at the sensation.

Of course she apologizes for my weakness and my inability to keep myself under control. "I'm the one who should apologize, Andie," I said quietly, taking her hand and brushing my lips across it.

"Alice, you can't help what you are," she replied gently, making me look her in the eyes. "I certainly don't hold your nature against you. I love you, vampire and all, silly girl." She leaned towards me cautiously, asking permission to kiss me, and I chuckled, going the rest of the way to her lips, kissing her softly. She should never have to ask permission to kiss me, I scolded myself as I moved my lips against hers. You almost lost her today, don't forget that, Alice, I went on in my head as I pulled back from her.

She gave me that smile, and got back in the car as I finished pumping gas. When I reached to start the car, Andie reached over and put a hand on my arm. "Thank you," she said. "For saving the day," she added when I gave a blank look, and I looked away from her so she wouldn't see the flash of pain in my eyes at the memory of what might have been. "I owe you one for that."

"You paid me back by being born twenty years, seven months, and five days ago. You're paid in full," I told her as we got back on the road.

"What if... what if I told you I've been thinking about making it up to you... for eternity?"

My belly did a flip flop at the words, and I glanced over at her, only to see she was watching for my reaction. "Andie," I began, and she held up a hand.

"You don't want me to do it if I don't want to, yadda yadda yadda. Alice, I don't want immortality per se, I want _you_ forever. And I really do."

_Sparkling in the waves so far I could barely see her in the sun's glare from her skin, I laughed at her antics, the way she frolicked like a child, and bade her return to me. She swam closer, and I couldn't help but meet her half way, entangling ourselves beneath the water, but no need to worry, we don't need to breathe..._

Oh. She was serious. She'd decided to change.

**A/N: So here we are at the decision point for Andie's fate. I can't believe she actually gave in. But it's not smooth sailing quite yet... the ride is just beginning. Reviews are appreciated... any thoughts, suggestions? Share them, I'm open-minded.**

**A.S.R.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: This may be the last thing I post for a while. Though I am thankful for your alerts and favorite adds, the lack of reviews are daunting, and leave me to believe I may just be embarrassing myself here amongst so many gifted fanfic authors. I want some opinions on this. If this is worth continuing, please let me know. I will commence to writing Bella/Alice after the conclusion of When You Think You Know Her, so I won't be gone... and to my favorite authors (Hollowgo, Shamrock317): I shall be lurking for updates! If you haven't read any of these two authors' works, please check out my favorites list and get to reading!**

**I love you guys for the support!**

**A.S.R**.

"Alice?" I said her name hesitantly, not sure how she was taking the news I'd given her. I meant what I had said, and did not plan to change my mind, no matter how she argued with me. But so far all I had gotten from the exquisite being driving was silence. "Can we talk about this?"

"Now would not be the most _ideal_ time, but it will be discussed in due course," she hissed in one breath. I saw flecks of venom fly when she said it, telling me the vampire approved of my choice. But that was only a part of the acceptance; I needed my Alice to accept it as well.

If I hadn't started my stupid, pointless cycle, we could have had a nice ride down to my childhood home. If I hadn't started my irrelevant bleeding, we could discuss in full the decision I'd made, she could ask me questions, and I could give her answers. "_Why_ do I have to be a stupid human?" I found myself muttering sullenly, childishly. "Stupid period ruining everything." I heard Alice give a short chuckle from behind the wheel. I scowled at her for laughing at me, and snatched up the iPod that was attached to the stereo in her father's car, turning it to a certain song I'd sung to her a few nights before, resulting in a rather rough tussle between my bed sheets, one that we'd both enjoyed. I admit, the revenge was petty, but I still felt a satisfaction when she reached over and clamped her fingers on my wrist. I grinned at her, knowing the thoughts playing behind those inky eyes, and I let the song play out before I switched it to another that held similar memories, laughing out right at the snarl that rolled free of her throat. I could hear her swallow the venom that my teasing had produced, and I felt a little guilty. But just a little, mind you.

The rest of the ride was quiet, aside from my efforts playing DJ, and thankfully it was only another two hours before we pulled onto the dirt road that led to my house, at the very end. I was consumed by memories as we flashed through the trees, hearing echoes of my laughter as I swung on the tire swing Daddy had tied up to the live oak tree at the base of our driveway. My tree, I thought to myself as we passed it.

I could also hear my sobs up in the leaves as I hid from my father after the girls at school found my poetry folder, and my crush on one of them reached his ears via her parents. I'd thought he wanted to whip me; he'd wanted to comfort me. "It doesn't matter to me who you love, Butterbean," he'd said after he climbed the tree to sit next to me on my branch. "You're my little girl, not theirs, and it's not up to them how I raise you. You can love whomever you want to love." I felt tears rise in my eyes as I remembered the moment, and how it had made me feel accepted. It was the first time I had ever felt that way. I was thirteen.

The porch light was on when we came to a stop in front of the ancient two-story, the dogs were barking like crazy at our arrival, and Alice hissed softly, thinking the same thing I was, I'm sure: the animals always went bananas around her. A giant silouette, wide and tall, stepped out of the open screen door, and it slammed shut behind him, bouncing on the frame a few times before it settled. The light mounted to the wall behind him obscured his rough features in shadow.

"Are you okay, Alice?" I reached over and rubbed her forearm slowly, studying her face, her nostrils. I'd taken note that when her nostrils flared too much that it meant she wasn't in a great mood. I'd yet to make a logical explanation for it without asking her.

"Just keep touching me, I'll stay grounded," she answered me quietly as we opened the doors to exit the vehicle.

She met me around the front of the car, and I laced my fingers through hers, squeezing her hand to reassure her, and took the few steps forward to the front steps. My daddy was standing there waiting for me with his arms crossed over his chest, wearing his overalls and flannel shirt, which came into sharp focus as my eyes grew adjusted to the soft light. "That you, Butterbean?" he said, and at the sound of his deep voice with that country accent, my heart swelled with a joy I usually only felt when Alice was near.

"Daddy!" I let go of Alice's hand and flew up the five steps to his waiting embrace, jumping on him, and he wrapped his arms around me and I inhaled his scent deeply, etching it further into my memory: wood chips, tobacco, and Old Spice cologne.

"OOF! Whoa, you're not as light as you used to be, Butterbean!" He hugged me tightly, and I squeezed him back, not believing I was home. "And I'm not as young as I used to be either. Your old man's back is going out on him."

He set me back down on my feet, and I stepped back to take in all six feet, four inches of his form, his dark beard shot through with silver, his hair thinned and also silvery. It was as if he'd aged fifteen years in the four months since I'd seen him last, even his blue eyes looked tired behind the frames of his glasses. He looked past me to Alice standing at the foot of the steps where I had left her without thinking, and it made me blush for getting caught up in my own memories and happiness, forgetting her pain. I retreated back down the steps to where she hung back shyly, allowing me this moment with my father, and snagged her hand, leading her up with me. "Hey, there!" my father said, studying Alice as we came up the steps. "Come on up, I won't bite you."

Even though I was over the moon about breathing South Carolina air and smelling the scent of my daddy's homemade chili, I noticed there was a pointed tone to the words he chose; and when Alice held her hand out for him to shake it, his lip curled and he looked at her tiny hand as if it were covered in writhing maggots, it clicked in my mind. _He knows_, I thought to Alice, wishing with all my might that she were the mind reader in the Cullen family. I choked back a gasp when I saw how dark her eyes were, more so than I'd ever seen them, even when we were intimate. Her stoic face didn't change as she said my father's name. "Mr. Fowler."

Daddy shook her hand, albeit briefly, and I watched his face as he flinched at the feel of her flesh. I glanced at Alice to see if she reacted to it, but her stony features were carved deeply into place. She needed to hunt, and she need to go _soon_. I realized with an uncomfortable twist in my gut that I had not seen her smile for hours. _Forget the smile, Andrea!_ I scolded myself as Daddy turned around opened the screen door. _Your father knows things he shouldn't!_

"I made a pot of chili, you girls go ahead and eat up. I'm sure you're hungry after that ride," he said as he held the door for us and let us enter ahead of him, and I felt his eyes on our interlocked fingers.

Our house hadn't changed as much as my father had, the living room furniture still sat in the same positions and the Gamecock memorbilia was still plastered all over the walls, my daddy's favorite college football team. The television was playing an old sitcom that I remembered seeing when it was new in the 1990s, when I was a child. It was warm from the crackling fire he had built in the old fireplace, and I watched the reflections of the flames dance in Alice's eyes as she looked over at it warily. The smell of the chili hung heavily in the air inside, and I felt my mouth water and my stomach rumble simultaneously at the thought of eating it, so I made a beeline to the kitchen, tugging a mute, stiff Alice behind me. I took a bowl down from the cabinet and started ladling it full to the brim. "You can share with me," I offered Alice, purely for the benefit of my father, with whom I was determined to keep up appearances.

"Thank you, baby," she murmured to me, getting as close as possible to my ear to whisper to me. "He knows, Andie. I don't know how yet, but he plans to confront me some time during our visit," she told me as we went to take a seat at the table.

I nearly spit the mouthful of hot chili I'd just eaten across the kitchen. "Say _what_?" I hissed, pissed off that he planned to say something to Alice, but not to me. Did he think she was playing a human charade with me, still? Alice smirked at me, reaching for the spoon I had thrown down into the bowl.

"You sound like a vampire when you do that, love," she pointed out to me, and I felt my face flush red, which Alice ignored, spooning up some chili. "But don't worry, it will turn out okay, our tempers merely clash, I think. Do you want this bite, or shall I take it?"

I stared at her, dumbfounded as I watched her take the bite of chili, chew, and swallow. It looked perfectly human, which was strange to me, the weirdest thing I'd ever witnessed. I would have rather watched her hunt, it would have been more natural. I didn't like watching her submit to anyone like that, not even my father. "Alice," I whispered, horrified at what human food might do to her vampiric body. "You don't have to do that." She gave me a tiny shake of her head, telling me to hush.

"Mr. Fowler, your chili is really good," she called out to the door that connected the kitchen to the living room, where I knew my daddy was lurking, listening to us whisper back and forth in the kitchen. I heard him scoff to himself, and then he appeared in the doorway, leaning against the frame, and watched as Alice took several more bites, my insides clenching with every spoonful she took, before I had all I could take and intervined.

"You gonna save me some, Alice?" I tried to make my tone light and amused, but it was hard when I was scared to death about what she could be doing to herself to try to seem as human as he or I. She fed me the next spoonful in response, and I smiled after I'd swallowed, and leaned to kiss her for being so sweet, but my father cleared his throat and made me jump in surprise; I'd forgotten he was standing there that quickly.

"I'm glad you like it," Daddy said gruffly. "It's probably a lot different from what you're used to eating, huh?" I felt a bubbling deep inside myself that had nothing to do with digestion, and I felt Alice give a sharp tap on my thigh when I opened my mouth to angrily retort. _Ow_, I thought to myself, rubbing the spot she'd gotten me. _That's going to be a bruise._

"Yes, sir," Alice said to my father as if she hadn't caught the double meaning in his words. "My mother runs a business, and stays busy, so we have a 'everyone for themselves' rule around my house."

"What kind of business does your... mother... run?" Daddy seemed almost amused.

"She's an interior decorator, and does event planning on the side. She has an eye for art that people love. My father is a doctor, medicine is his passion, he loves helping people." This was all very true, and Alice gave my father a smile for asking questions that she could answer easily.

He slid his glasses down and peered at my mate over the tops the lenses. "How does he feel about your choice in major? Andie tells me you're majoring in Cultural Arts." Daddy didn't even glance at me, but my blood was starting to boil.

"He wants me to do what makes me happy," she said brightly, though I knew her tone was forced, I could hear it. "Our whole family is fairly artistic. My brother is a pianist, and composes his own music, and his wife writes children's fiction when she's not raising their daughter. My sister Rosalie designs wedding dresses and evening wear, I like to help her sketch and sew. Her husband, Emmett, is into carpentry, and draws his own blue prints, though I question his taste in decor: animal heads mounted on a wall are not becoming, in my opinion."

"Uh huh," was all Daddy said, and I knew he was thinking about his twelve point prize buck that was hanging on the wall of the study.

"The only one of my siblings that isn't into some form of art is Jasper, but he's a rather serious law student right now. But even he appreciates the beauty. I myself am more into the historical aspects of art, and its impact on human evolution," Alice went on, deflating a little under his steady, disapproving gaze. I didn't like the way he was looking at her... it made me want to hurt him, the way he was affecting my tiny mate next to me.

"Human evolution," he mused, still making Alice a very interesting program he was watching intently, then he pushed his glasses back up his nose. "A criminology major-" he looked at me, "and an arts major-" he looked back at Alice, "fell in love, is that right?"

"Yes, sir," Alice said, turning her eyes to mine and looking into my heart through them as she always did. "I fell in love with her energy, her essence, not her obsession with serial killers, which I do not share."

"Yeah, apparently she has a thing for murderers," he purred, his true feelings starting to show.

**SNAP. CRACK. BOOM.** "YOU DON'T KNOW _ANYTHING_!" I roared, jumping to my feet so fast that the chair I'd been sitting in crashed to the floor. Alice grabbed my arm to stop me from moving around the table towards him, and I pulled at it for a minute, the only thing in my mind was making him hurt for hurting her with his words. "STOP YOUR SNIDE COMMENTS, DAD, SHE'S HARMLESS!" Okay, so maybe not _harmless_, but I knew she would never hurt _me_, and this was his malfunction.

Daddy folded his arms across his chest, undaunted by my explosion, and looked at me like he'd never met me. "She's a _monster_, Andrea," he said quietly, the tone I'd hated as a child, the tone that meant he was very, very angry. It didn't scare me now. No, but it was enough to make me snatch my arm free from Alice's iron grip (I would regret that later, as it bruised me badly to twist my arm like that), and fly around the table to get in his calm face. Alice was faster, of course, and I hit her chest as she attempted to plead with me to leave it alone, restraining me from getting closer to him.

"Andie, please. Please. I can't handle this right now, I'm not strong enough," she said in my ear as I started sobbing with the pressure of all the turbulance in my head.

"She's _everything_ to me!" I screamed at him, making him flinch as he started to move closer. "I don't care what you think, you don't even know her! Who are you to say _anything_ about her?" I struggled uselessly against her embrace, fighting with a statue that had me held tight in its arms.

"I'M YOUR FATHER, ANDREA!" He had finally let his temper slip, and I knew now it would be ugly, because my father is a very controlled man, and I could count on one hand how many times he'd ever raised his voice to me. "Get your hands off my daughter, you bloodsucking freak!" He tried to yank Alice away from me, but of course he couldn't budge her. His volume and violent effort triggered something in Alice, as her face screwed up into a a crazed scowl.

Before I knew I had moved, I was back on the other side of the table with the entire kitchen between us and my enraged father, and Alice was in a defensive crouch in front of me, one hand behind her with it clasped tightly to my wrist, in case we needed to escape. She snarled at my father in warning, which only goaded his temper. "You little shit! You think I'd hurt her?" he screamed at Alice, who hissed then growled in response. I'd never seen her like this, and I was scared if Daddy tried to come closer to us, she would attack him to protect me. I had to calm her down, but Daddy wasn't finished. "Kate was everything to _me_, until she disappeared and left me to suffer! Humans are just sex toys and food to them, Andie, I know what I'm talking about. I had an affair with one for the first ten years of your life!"

**A/N: Okay, so I lied. I have enough material for one more chapter. It will probably be posted tonight after this one, and then I'm serious lol no more until I get some incentive. So... review away, please!**

**A.S.R.**


	10. Chapter 10

"I had an affair with one for the first ten years of your life!"

The words rang like church bells in my helter skelter mind, and it was as if he'd slapped me, because I rocked back on my heels from the impact of the admittance. An affair with a vampire? _My_ father? I came back to reality a second later when Alice tightened her grip on my wrist and walked us backwards with a soft snarl at my father, who was inching towards us, smart enough not to move too quickly and provoke a pissed off vampire protecting her mate. He held his hands up, palms out. "I've calmed down," he said in an even tone, not taking his eyes away from Alice as she readjusted her position between us. "I just want to talk to my daughter."

She snarled again, and I realized with another start that this was the predator, the animal, defending me, and it ignored the call of my blood completely. "Alice," I said gently, lying a hand on her shoulder, and she growled softly in acknowledgement, not looking away from Daddy as he stood there with his hands up in surrender. "He won't hurt me, I promise. You need to hunt, my love." I kept my voice low and soothing, trying to tame the demon, and she glanced at me over her shoulder, but did not relax her stance. I slowly came around to face her, throwing a hand up to my father when he tried to protest, and he shut up. Her eyes, the darkest color I'd ever seen, deeper than black, searched my own blue eyes, then went down my body frantically, short snarls and sniffing sounds erupting from her, until the sounds became more like purrs. I smiled, recognizing that she was checking me for injuries, and had calmed down a tad when she found none. "Yes, I'm okay," I assured her, touching her face, and she leaned into my palm, her eyes closing, and an unmistakable purr rumbling through her. I pulled her into my arms, and she buried her face in my neck, still purring, causing my father to balk in surprise that she had not bitten me. "It's okay, Alice, he didn't hurt me, he would never hurt me. He loves me, too." I buried my nose in her hair for a whiff of her sweet scent to help calm _me_ down, and gave Daddy an "I-told-you-so" glare.

"Andie?" Alice whimpered a minute later, the purrs having died down to silence. She pulled back and looked at me, terror in her eyes, fearful of my reaction to her instincts.

"Go hunt," I encouraged her in a whisper, "and then come back to me." I gave her a soft, lingering kiss, not caring that Daddy was standing there with his mouth on the floor. "I love you," I told her in a tone that dared her to contradict me, then kissed her again before she just disappeared, moving too quickly for human eyes to follow.

Once Alice had vacated the house, I stood locked in a staring match with my father, the only sound being the laughtrack from the show on the telelvision. I was waiting for him to explain himself, but as it seemed he had nothing to say, I broke the silence. "You cheated on Mama? For six years?" He had said the first ten years of my life, and Mama had passed when I was six.

He took off his glasses and rubbed his face uncomfortably, leaning against the kitchen counter with a heavy sigh. "I'm not proud of it," he said miserably, now staring down at his mud covered work boots. "I would have never told you, except you brought one home from college with you. I knew you were enamored with her the first time you brought her here, and you didn't even know she was a- a-"

"Vampire?" I supplied, impatient with his stalling and his prejudice.

"Yeah. Andrea... she came up to me in the middle of the night at the mill, down at the lumber yard. Kate. She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen, but you of all people understand how... tempting they are." He looked up at me pleadingly, but I gave him no sympathy, and he flinched at my game face and looked back down at his boots. "We kept it going until you were about ten," he said in a strained voice, and I suspected he was holding back tears. "She was there for me when I lost your mama, and when I was stuck with a little girl I had no idea how to raise. She taught me how to raise you. Kate became everything to me, but... she went out one night to hunt for deer, and never came back. I never saw her again." He looked up at me and I did look away from the pain in his eyes, unable to take it. "That was when I started drinking. You remember that, I'm sure."

I didn't reply, just looked at the table top, waiting for him to continue.

"Please forgive me," he pleaded, and still I remained silent. "I can't help how I felt, and it's over now. I was bewitched, Butterbean, just like you are with Alice."

"I'm not bewitched." I had to set this record straight for him. My relationship with Alice was _nothing_ like his with this Kate. "Alice and I are connected, Daddy. Did you not see what just happened a few minutes ago?" I gestured to where Alice had been crouched in front of me. "That was _all_ instinct, and she did not try to bite me, she protected her mate."

Daddy had been looking at his boots again, but when the word "mate" left my lips, his head shot up and he looked at me with wide eyes, putting his glasses back on. "She calls you her mate?" he asked hoarsely. His eyebrows knitted together and his eyes teared up when I nodded. "A vampire cannot live without its mate, Kate told me. She left because I was not hers." He paused and the first tear slid free of his eye. "Are you really her mate? This isn't a-a- _sex_ thing?"

I shook my head. "No, sir. It is much more than that. She is my balance, Daddy. I hate not being able to touch her, it causes me physical pain if she's gone for too long. I feel home safe with Alice beside me, like my puzzle of life is complete and everything I've done has led me to her. It took almost two years of living in denial before I even accepted that I have belonged to her since the first time we locked eyes." He had started sobbing at my words, and I crossed the kitchen to hug him, and he held me tightly, his tears falling on my hair.

"Butterbean," he sobbed, his large body convulsing in them, "you're going to change soon, aren't you?"

I felt my heart break at his words, and I squeezed him just a little tighter. "I plan to be with her forever, yes."

"Promise me that this is what _you_ want, Butterbean, and I won't question you or Alice again," he whispered painfully into my hair.

"All I want is her," I vowed, pulling back to look him in the eyes as I told him. "To hell with immortality, I just want my Alice forever."

"Okay. Okay," he said with a jerky nod, and my chest flooded with a relieved heat that he believed me finally, and was accepting it. He released me from his arms completely and took off his glasses again to wipe them and his eyes free of tears, and grabbed a paper towel to blow his nose. "If you have any questions for me, could we save them for tomorrow? I'm so tired, Butterbean, I think I need to lay down."

I nodded, standing on my tip toes to peck his bearded cheek. "Go on, get some sleep. I'll clean up down here and put the chili away."

"Thank you," he rumbled, kissing the top of my head. "I miss you being here, Andie. I miss you."

I hugged him again. "I miss you, too, Daddy. Alice helps with the homesick I couldn't get over at first. If I can't have you, I'm glad she's as much home for me."

"Me, too. Me, too. I'm glad you've found her. Good night."

I looked up at him with a bright smile at his words. "Good night, Daddy. I love you."

"Love you, Butterbean," he murmured against my hair, then moved away to go upstairs. I listened to his heavy foot falls on the stairs and then the creaking floorboards above me as he entered his room, and finally the echo of his door as he shut it. I let go of a sigh of relief that he had let it go for tonight, because I honestly didn't know how much more I could take for the day, either. I needed to take a step back and reassess the truth he had given me about a love affair with a vampire. Kate, huh? I wondered if I'd ever meet her in my immortality. What would I do if indeed I did?

Alice still hadn't returned by the time I'd cleaned the kitchen, unloaded our bags, and showered. I was beginning to worry about her, but I didn't dare to call her cell phone, not wanting to scare away any potential prey she might be stalking. I left the front door unlocked instead, curling up on the couch beneath an old Gamecocks throw blanket that was on the back of the sofa. I put on cartoons to watch while I waited on my mate, but soon was out like a light, completely at ease in my childhood home.

Her arms lifting me up woke me what seemed like seconds after I'd closed my eyes, and I opened them to see a warm butterscotch in my mate's, making me smile and snuggle down in her chest as she carried me to bed. "Are you okay?" I asked her sleepily, my eyes drooping despite my efforts to keep them trained on hers.

"I might ask you the same thing," she replied seriously, but I saw the twinkle in her eyes that told me she was much, much better.

"Alice," I whined softly in protest of her evasion, and she tinkled a laugh, my belly swooping with the sight of her smile.

"Better than okay, my love. I can't believe how brave you were earlier, standing up to him for me, and then calming me down like that when I was... when I wasn't myself. I've fed _well_. I'm so full I'm sloshing. I forget how well populated the South is with white tails."

"That's good," I yawned as she set me down like a piece of fine china on my old bed, sliding in beside me before pulling the covers over us both. She'd learned her lesson about trying to stay outside the blankets when I was beneath them. I liked to wrap all around her, and her chest was my favorite pillow, unless she had me spooned into her, which was nice, too. This was the position we took, me locking my arms around hers as she slid them around me from behind, pulling me fully against her, and I smiled at the completion.

"You never answered me," she said quietly, pressing her lips to my shoulder. "Are _you_ okay?"

"Yes," I answered, Honest Abe. "I'll fill you in on what happened before we go downstairs in the morning. I'm sleepy."

"Okay, Andie," she whispered lovingly, and I turned in her arms, finding her lips with mine without ever opening my eyes, and she kissed me until I slowly dropped back off to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Random disclaimer, because I tend to forget: I do not own Twilight characters, plots, or situations. That's Stephenie Meyer's genius. I own Andie, Thomas, and whatever other OC may be thrown into the mix ;) (hint...?)**

**Thanks for the alerts and favorites adds, as always. Reviews, please?**

**AlicePOV:**

Andie slept soundly, as I knew she would, snoring lightly as she lay on my chest while I texted Bella about the events from yesterday. I had shown my other side to the fullest, and I still couldn't believe that no one was hurt in the process. It was major kudos to Andie that she was able to calm me down and bring me back long enough to get me to hunt. If her father had moved any closer, any faster... I didn't like to think about it. I would have never been able to look my Andie in the eyes again, had he come closer. What confused me most was the fact that the predator was in full control, and was protecting Andie, rather than killing her because of the overwhelming scent of her blood; even now, the smell wasn't affecting me like _that_ at all. She was escaping my thirst completely. When I had texted this to my sister and best friend, her reply was simple: _you love her ;)_

_Considering I nearly slaughtered her father for upsetting her, I am compelled to agree_, I texted her back, with a grimace at the thought. It was sheer craziness that Andie was able to reign me in. She'd been brave, or retarded, to soothe that piece of me like that, with intimate caresses and loving tones. The scent of her brought me back to my senses, rather than driving me further out, bewildering me just as much as Andie's actions. And she hadn't even been upset with me when I came back to her, she had been happy to see me, had kissed me until she couldn't fight the sleep anymore. She understood me. She knew how to work me, in every way, she was always in control of the situation with me, even when I get rough with her when I make love to her. She never lets me mess up, not after seeing how I beat myself up about our first time. She took care of me. When I texted Bella all of this, as well, her reply was just as simple as before: _she loves you, fool! lol_

_It's amazing, like magic, with her. I never imagined it could really feel like this, Bells_. I sent that with a giggle to myself that I couldn't supress, and Andie rolled away from me in her sleep, and I rolled with her, unable to have her too far from my touch. I sent Bella a quick _ttyl ily_, and tossed my phone to the foot of the bed, then slid my arms around my beautiful girl, inhaling her scent deeply, reveling in the fact it wasn't torture for me anymore. I pulled her into me and she sighed, her fingers finding my arm and wrapping around my wrist, still sleeping deeply, her body on autopilot. I smiled to myself. Her instinctual side liked me, too! I snickered at that, and she tightened her fingers in response. Her shoulder was bare, save for the strap on her tank top she'd worn to sleep in, and the slope of her neck was hypnotizing as I watched her jugular vein pulsate with her heart beat, which only added more to the enchantment. I couldn't stop myself from pressing my lips to it, I needed to feel that beat in my kiss. It was by pure habit that I trailed that kiss down to her shoulder, and she whimpered in her sleep as her body pressed itself into me, the roundness of her buttocks fitting snug into my hips, making me gasp as the sensation sent a shock through me. She smelled so good when I heated her this way, and here she was heating up, oblivious in slumber. I bet she was having some pretty good dreams right now.

I snaked my hand under her shirt and rubbed her soft belly, my mind starting to wander towards her declaration to me in the car, about wanting to be changed. The clarity of my vision had told me exactly how serious she was about it, even if her scared-but-strong tone hadn't. I'd never planned to try to convince her otherwise, only support her decision, and respect it, if she chose to remain human. I can't lie, I was relieved she had changed her mind, no matter how selfish that makes me. I had eternity with Andie, I had forever to show her over and over what she means to me. Being alone while living with couples like Carlisle and Esme, Rose and Emmett, and much later Edward and Bella... it was painful, the longing for someone to look in their eyes and know you are whole. I buried my face between my forever's shoulder blades, smiling to myself that I finally had that someone, and that she was in my arms, and in my mind, my n'er beating heart, and my recently acknowledged soul. Mine. She was _mine_. My lips kissed her back through the cotton cloth of her shirt, and I inhaled again just to relax against her and listen to my personal lullaby her heart was always beating for me.

I didn't lie there very long before I heard her father stirring in his room down the hall, making me bite my lip. He had been awake when I'd brought Andie to bed, but I didn't mention the quiet sobs or whispered prayers permeating from behind his closed bedroom door. The words I heard him whisper tore at my silent heart and made me wish I could cry: "Lord, I'm not long for this world, take me any time you see fit. My little girl has all she'll ever need now, and my work here is finished. All I ask is keep my Butterbean safe, as neither of us shall see her in your Kingdom. Amen." I wondered if he really knew he was dying; his heart was weak, and his blood smelled tainted, leading me to think that his liver no longer functioned properly. I hated to think of what it would do to Andie.

I listened to him get ready for the day, even though it was 5:30 in the morning, and then he came out of his room with slow, heavy steps, and he paused at the top of the staircase. "Alice, I know you can hear me. Can you please come down and talk to me before Andie wakes up?" Then he went on down the steps, leaving me lying in shock. It had to be a split decision to talk to me, but I could see flickers of what subjestc he would bring up: me, Andie, his health, his will, instructions for after his death, and... Kate? He knewKate? How...?

I tried to think back to conversation from the night before, but the last thing I could remember was him trying to snatch me away from Andie, and that's when the vampire in me ran rampant, so I couldn't focus to take in the words he was saying, I could only focus on protecting Andie. I sighed heavily, extracting myself from my mate and getting out of bed to walk down to the kitchen at a very human pace, not wanting to shock him and send him into cardiac arrest.

He had his back to me as I entered the kitchen, filling up a coffee pot full of water to start coffee. He heard me come in though, as he said gruffly, "Good morning."

"Good morning," I replied, keeping my distance from him, the events from hours before still fresh in my mind.

When he turned around to turn on the oven, he saw my distance and chuckled a bit to himself. "Come on, I'm okay," he told me, gesturing to the the seat across from him as he took a chair at the table.

I sat down with him, and he sighed, running a hand through his silver hair, then pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Alice, Andie told me last night that she is your mate." Right into it.

I nodded, not sure about his direction. "You know what that means?" I asked uncertainly, and he nodded.

"I don't know if you heard everything I told Andie, but I was involved with a vampire named Kate, once, for about ten years. It was when she left that I went to shit. I wasn't her mate, she told me. My daughter needed me, she told me. She would always love me, she told me. And then she went to hunt one night and never came back."

"Kate... she had eyes like mine?" I already knew the answer, but I had to hear it from him.

He looked up at me and nodded again. "She hunted animals, not humans. I never felt fear around her. I felt fear from you last night."

"I'm sorry about that," I mumbled uncomfortably. "I felt danger from you, so I defended my mate."

He chuckled. "I'm sorry, Alice. I judged you without giving you a chance, just based on what Kate had done to me. I didn't want Andie to feel that heart break."

"I'll never break her heart, and she'll never break mine," I answered automatically, and he looked at me again. His eyes were the same shade of violet as Andie's. She favored her father strongly, but her height and build had to have come from her mother, because she was as small as I.

"I believe you. I knew she was gone the moment I saw the way she looks at you, the first time you came here with her. That little girl she had living with her never stood a chance after she met you," he said matter-of-factly, and I couldn't help but smile.

"She still loves you more," I told him honestly, reaching across the table to touch his arm, as he had started crying again. I wasn't sure if this was a welcome gesture, but once my hand was in place, he covered it with one of his bear-sized paws.

"It's different," he mumbled. "She belongs with you, you can take care of her now. Alice, I'm going to tell you something that Andie doesn't know."

He really was dying, and yes, he did know it, and had known for over a year. I had to let him finish telling me, though, as he had no idea about my talent. "I have a liver disease. I was diagnosed last year. The booze is finally killing me."

"Why didn't you tell Andie?"

He laughed through his tears and gave me that sideways look Andie gives me sometimes, the corner of his mouth tugging up just like hers. "Come on, Alice," he said in an amused tone. "You know her as well as I do. What would she have done?"

"Come home to take care of you." I knew where he was heading with this now.

"Exactly. She has a life up there. She has you. She's doing what she's always wanted to do. I couldn't take all of that away from her, Alice, not for me. I want her to be happy, and she is." He paused, looking at me as if he were sizing me up. "Can I ask you something personal?"

Oh. That. "Yes?"

"How long has it been since... since you fed on a human?"

"Ninety one years, cold turkey," I joked, and he smiled again. "She's safe, Mr. Fowler."

"Call me Thomas," he told me, and I nodded with a smile. I was starting to really like her father, despite his next venture of topic. "Have you ever changed someone?"

I shook my head, and he paled just a little. "No, I haven't. Andie will be my first, and my last. But my control with her is phenomenal. She's on her cycle right now, and I never even sniffed at her in a malicious manner last night, when I was at my worst."

He stared at me for a few seconds longer, then stood up to make a cup of coffee, as the pot had finished running. "All of that about your family last night... was that your human family you spoke of?"

I shook my head. "No, sir. My adoptive parents now. They're immortal, same as I. My siblings are, as well. We are almost fully functional amongst mankind, other than being out in the sun, of course."

He laughed at that, shaking his head. "You're telling me that there's a vampire doctor out there somewhere?"

I laughed with him, knowing how that must sound. "Yes, sir. He does procedures and everything. He's never had human blood at all. My father is an amazing man, you would like him, I think."

Thomas was still chuckling to himself as he sat back down with a cup of black coffee steaming in his hands. "Has Andie met your family, yet?" he asked me, sipping it carefully.

"Some of them. She's known Jasper as long as she's known me, they get along great, he adores her. She met Rose and Emmett last week, but my sister... well, she's a little intimidating at first. Emmett loves her, he thinks she's cute because she's little like me. He's already started on the midget couple jokes. My parents are out of the country on an extended vacation, but when they return, we will fly out to Washington so she can meet them. They've heard a lot about her, I've talked about her nonstop since we met."

Thomas laughed again, becoming at ease with me. "There's only one thing left I want to, well, warn you about. When I sent Andie off to college, I took a loan out on the house and the property to pay for it. I've gotten behind on the payments, since I've been sick. I'm pretty sure they are getting ready to take all this." He made a gesture around the room. "Andie doesn't know about that, either. I was hoping I'd never have to tell her."

Hmm. That much was easily taken care of, but I didn't say anthing to Thomas about it now. I would pay off his debts anonymously. I couldn't let Andie lose her childhood home, especially if she were about to lose her father. What kind of mate would that make me? "I won't mention it to her, Thomas. I promise."

He cleared his throat, looking at me again. "Speaking of promises... can I get you to give me a few more?"

"Of course, anything," I answered, knowing the grounds already.

"Promise me that she'll always be as happy as she is now, make it your personal duty to keep her so."

"I promise."

"Promise me you'll never leave her."

I smiled softly, knowing his mind was on Kate, and I planned on talking to her at length about this. "I swear, you have my word," I told him.

Then he stopped, the last request choking him a little. "Promise me, Alice, that you won't let her forget me."

I got up and came around to him, kneeling in front of him while his head hung down and his tears fell like the soft rain outside. "Thomas, I swear to you that even if I weren't here for her, she would never forget you. You are her world."

He shook his heavy head. "I was," he said hoarsely. "Now you are. So take care of my Butterbean, you hear?"

"Yes, sir." I threw my arms around him, hugging him, loving him for loving her. He curled one arm around me and patted the top of my head with the opposite hand.

"You're a pretty good kid, Alice. Thank you."

"You're welcome," I answered, giving him my brightest smile yet, to which he couldn't help but grin back. "And I'll stay away from the horses this time, too."

He released me with a laugh to rival Emmett. "Don't worry, I put them all in the barn yesterday before y'all got here. That was five thousand dollars I couldn't spend again."

If I could have blushed, I would have. But above me, I heard Andie wake up with a gasp, and heard her murmur my name in the semi-dark. When I looked up at the ceiling, so did he, and he knew I'd heard my mate. "Go on, before she wakes up and misses you," he told me pointing towards the stairs. "I'll get her breakfast started."

Thomas was dying. I knew the cause of his heart ache, a tall blonde named Kate that lived in Denali, Alaska. They were about to lose their home. The worst part of all of it was I couldn't tell Andie any of it.

**A/N: Be kind about this chapter, as I had one written out last night, and something happened and it was deleted, so I had to re-write it. I think I caught all the major points, but I can't help but feel the first version was the best one. Don't forget: Reviews, please please! **

**I love you guys! So, until chapter 12... I bid thee adieu.**

**A.S.R.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight, I just like to play with them like I would Barbie dolls :)**

**A/N: This is a filler chapter, though there is a lemon at the beginning. After this, it could be quite some time before they have time for another, as this is where my story will pick up pace. Thank you all, as always, for the adds and alerts, and thank you to aurike for actually reviewing for me :P I hope you guys enjoy.**

**A.S.R.**

I woke up from a rather good dream, eager to share with Alice, but Alice wasn't there, sending me into a panic that she had indeed left because of my monthly visitor. Stupid human body! I was kinda pissed that it had run my girlfriend off, so it automatically made me grumpy. "Alice?" I said softly into the dimly lit room, hoping that just maybe she was still near.

Thirty seconds later I felt her arms around me and her face in my neck, and I relaxed against her, thankful she came back. I grinned, my bad mood washed away in her presence, and lifted her hand to my lips to plant kisses across her knuckles. "Good morning, beautiful," she whispered in my ear from behind, sending those chills through me.

"Good morning," I replied, rolling over to face her, sighing at the sight of her eyes shining back at me. "My little deity," I added, roving a hand across her jaw to the close my fingers around the back of her neck, pulling her face to mine.

"Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration, Andie?" she asked against my mouth a second later, in between kisses.

Ha. No. I shook my head, teasing her tongue with mine, and before I realized what I was doing, I was trying to climb on top of her. She giggled and put a hand on my chest to stop me, and I pulled back, confused, because this was an every morning ritual. "Babe..." Alice looked at me pointedly, and it took me a second to realize what she was talking about.

"Oh. Oh! Alice, I'm sorry, forgive me. I'd forgotten that quickly, my body was just kind of acting alone there."

She chuckled, and I noticed that though they were darker, her eyes were not as black as they could have been. "It's okay, don't worry about it. I wish you could do that right now..." She looked at me mischievously, an evil tilt to her lips, denting in one dimple. "I'd let you ride all morning, if you wanted to," she whispered and I shuddered, closing my eyes tightly against the images playing in my mind, and trying to ignore the ignition of heat between my legs.

"Pure evil, a demonic pixie, for certain," I teased her, and she cackled a little, catching my lips again with hers.

"One day, we won't even have to stop for you to catch your breath," she replied, her hand sneaking beneath my tank top, her fingertips running up my rib cage, making me shiver at the thought, and my heart beat pick up. "Or to wait for your heart to calm down," she went on, her fingers now brushing across my chest, teasing my nipples. "I'll be able to touch you, really touch you, without fear of hurting you." She pressed her lips gently to the corner of my mouth, and pulled her hand free of my shirt, taking my hand in hers and placing it on her neck. "You'll be able to touch me, without fear of me hurting you."

"That's your fear, not mine," I breathed, watching in disbelief as she pulled my hand down her neck, down between her breasts, and brushed the very ends of my fingers across the bottom of the zipper to her designer jeans. "I know you would never hurt me."

She tinkled a tiny laugh, and I didn't miss the way her eyes rolled back in her head just a bit when I took that same route again, on my own. I liked it. "Really?" I said in awe. "Just that slightest touch...?" I did it again, and she visibly shook, but did not try to stop me when I experimentally slid my hand under her shirt, rubbing her rock hard stomach, dipping a fingertip into her belly button. None of these actions helped my own feelings, but I didn't care; it had become like background music, and this was the first time she'd let me get away with this much play on her body. She would oblige me when I wanted her against me, but only her own fingers were allowed to do what she was letting me do now, as my hands slowly slid up to her chest beneath her shirt, my fingers closing on her nipples simultaneously. She gasped, and one of her hands wound its fingers in my hair, but she still didn't stop me as my hands closed over both breasts, fitting perfectly in my palms. She was starting to breath as deeply as a human girl would, and I vaguely wondered if it was habit or necessity, but the most prominent thought in my mind was the fact she was really letting me touch her. I was going to push this as much as she would let me, too. If I couldn't get off, she damn sure would, and I could probably get a bit of relief in the mean time.

I squeezed as hard as I could, feeling the flesh give ever so slightly under the pressure, but Alice moaned against my neck, where she had buried her face when I'd closed my hands on them. When I squeezed again, pinching her nipples between my fingers, she started planting light kisses up my neck, and when she met my lips she moaned again, and I was deafened briefly by a rush of blood to my head, but it soon passed. My fingers tugged impatiently the buttons of her silk blouse, and she knocked my hands away for a second, only to bring them back to an open shirt, and I pulled away from the kiss to realize I was straddled across her now rather than lying beside her, and was momentarily confused as to how I ended up there. She was leaning back on her right hand, the left having a tight rein on my hair, and I looked at her below me, her chest pale and beautifully heaving with my efforts, her eyes still not black, and a confused look on her face.

"Are you okay? Is this too much for you?" I asked her, and she shook her head slowly, not blinking to keep her eyes locked into mine.

"No, that's what's crazy," she panted back, licking her gorgeous lips. "I'm fine in terms of thirst... I just have a hunger for you that's overwhelming." She sat up with me still in her lap, and I slid the shirt off her shoulders, lowering my mouth to her collarbone, tasting the flesh there tenderly, and her breathing picked up again, tiny whimpers emitting from her throat. "Oh, god, Andie," she sighed in my ear, and I felt a thrill zip through me at the sound of my name falling from her lips as I kissed and nuzzled her.

I urged her down on her back, and stretched out on top of her, positioning between her legs. I couldn't help but grin, seeing her beneath me for once. She grinned back, knowing what I was thinking. "Shut up," she groaned, pushing my shoulder a little, and in response I thrusted my hips against hers playfully, knowing it went straight through her when her back arched and she pressed against me. Tingles exploded through my body so forcefully that I saw spots for a second.

"How do you like it down there? Because I'm telling you, I could get used to it up here," I joked when I got my brains back, making her giggle.

"Kiss me?" she said playfully, before pulling my face to hers.

The movement against her came naturally. My hips took a mind of their own, and hers reciprocated, our lips and tongues dancing to the rhythm they created. She let me move my mouth down her neck, and when my right hand snaked between our hips to press against her through her jeans, she yelped, but still ground against it, her hold on me tightening in the most minuscule way possible. My name was whimpered again as I moved my mouth further down, and took her nipple in my mouth for the first time ever, flicking my tongue across it, tugging a little with my teeth. It was like biting a rock, but I didn't care, I didn't care because it was my Alice, and hearing my name confirmed this for me deep within my pool of instincts that were taking over in me. I kept my hand moving against her as I kept kissing her chest, and after a minute more of it, I felt Alice stiffen and then I noticed my hand was wet... as was the crotch of her jeans. I looked up at her, and she covered her face, her chest still heaving. "I'm sorry," she panted, uncovering her face and looking down at me. "It was really soon, I know. I've just– well– this is my... first time," she finished lamely, and my mouth fell open at the news. I was going to be... her first?

I guess I stared at her with my jaw hanging open for a minute too long, because she reached down and closed it with a tiny smile. "Don't looked so surprised, love. It's not like I spent the past 109 years being a harlot," she giggled at my expression, and I shook my head, trying to clear it.

"But– but you're so... _good_ at it, like you've done it for years," I said incredously, shaking my head again, but this time in disbelief.

Alice sighed, unbuttoning her jeans and sliding them off, then tugging at my shirt. "I told you... a vampire only truly mates once in its existence. You. Are. My. Mate. I've waited on you, for this." She pulled me back on top of her as she laid there in nothing but pink boy cut underwear that had a very telltale dark spot on the crotch. "As for me being good at making you come," she paused as I shivered at her dirty talk, "no offense, but you are easy, my love. It's just like touching myself, multiplied by a billion." She kissed me teasingly, lightly pulling her nails up my spine, enticing me to continue the play, but a thought struck me and I pulled back to look at her so I could see her reaction.

"Late night Showtime and HBO help out, too, huh?" I raised an eyebrow as she froze beneath me, then slowly grinned. "Yeah, uh huh, that's what I thought."

"If that's what you call your bedroom window at night, then yeah," she shot back, making me blush furiously, and she giggled at the effect, kissing me again.

This time, I wasted none, and slipped my hand in her panties, a moan escaping my mown throat as I felt how slick and... almost _warm_ she was, and she hastily thrusted up with her hips, bringing my hand into herself without letting me tease first, and her head went back with a loud noise. _Oh shit_, I thought to myself as I covered her mouth with my own again. _Please don't wake my father up!_ But I have to admit, feeling her like that, her cold body pressed flush against me as I worked her, it made me want to get a little loud, too.

I wanted to take it slowly, but the control freak in Alice took the upper hand in the way she feverishly humped against me, and I realized I could only go so deep with her. There was a suction release when I pulled back from her kiss and looked at her, trying to push harder, and she smiled. "My hymen," she gasped as I hit against it again, trying to push past. "I doubt you can–oh, Andie!" Finally it had relented and I went as deep as anyone had been inside of her, including herself. I pushed a second finger in, and she clung to me, shaking beneath me.

"Are you okay?" I asked her worriedly, and she answered with a kiss to my cheek.

"More," was all she simply said, and I gave her what she wanted, sliding another of my small fingers into her. "Now make me come like I do you," she said huskily in my ear, and I lost it, orgasm ripping through my body on top of her without the slightest physical attention.

Opposite of the fuzzy, sleepy feeling that usually comes with my release, this one refreshed me and I gave her everything I could, as hard as I could, wanting to make sure that my frail little human body could take care of her immortal perfection. She was fighting with herself, trying not to get out of control beneath me, and I heard a ripping sound as cotton spilled out on the bed beside us, and I barely registered that I had lost a pillow in her passion. "You... tell me... when you're... going to come," I panted in her ear as I worked her over harder than I'd ever worked the two girls I'd been with before her.

Three fingers deep, my thumb came up and pressed against the nerve at the top of her sex, and she made a noise that I'd never heard a human girl make, somewhere between a high pitched scream and a moan, and she thrusted up hard (it would be a bruise on my mound, I was sure), and held her hips there, pulling my hair as if holding on to life itself. "I'm coming," she whispered painfully in my ear, and like magic I felt another one rising in myself as well. I tore my face away from her neck to look dead into her dark honey eyes as she came for me the first time, just as she had done for me.

Two long and painfully slowly pumps later, she came all over my hand, and the sensation sent me over my edge so hard that when she collapsed beneath me, I went down just as hard, a panting, sweaty mess on top of her cool beauty. I withdrew my hand from her, and brought it up to my eyes, staring in amazement at the physical evidence of our love, and wondering if this was how she felt when she looked at her hand after I'd done the same for her. I also understood the want to taste it, as I pressed the tip of my tongue to one of my fingers as she watched, then at the first taste I moaned, sucking my finger down to the hilt before moving on to the others. Her breath hitched in her chest, and I looked at her to see her in awe while I did it. "I can feel it when you do this in front of me," I began.

"Just as I feel it now," she finished, and I smiled, her sweet flavor still on my tongue as I leaned my face up to kiss her.

Daddy was in the kitchen when Alice and I stumbled down the stairs an hour later, both showered and fully dressed, and the first thing to hit my nostrils was biscuits baking in the oven and then I saw the chili cheese omelets on a plate sitting on the table. "Could my morning get any better?" I muttered to Alice happily, practically skipping into a chair at the table.

"Ask me that again in five years," she muttered back, making me giggle.

"Well, it's about time you woke up, sleepy head!" Daddy said, walking over to tussle my damp hair.

"I've been up for a little while," I said defensively, reaching for a plate and a fork. "I'm no lazy bum like I used to be." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I kind of figured," he muttered, his face turning red. "I heard, uh, some bumping around."

My face went beet red, and Alice snickered beside me, and I elbowed her hard, regretting it immediately, but when she pecked my cheek, I knew she'd at least gotten the point. "Don't you need to go hunt?" I said pointedly, knowing she was still okay, as her eyes were brighter right now than even last night.

"Nah, I'm good," she replied smugly, smirking at me. "I'm sure you've got quite the appetite right now after all the work you just–"

"_Alice!_" I hissed, and she stopped talking to laugh at my embarrassment, squeezing my thigh under the table, shrugging innocently.

Daddy just shook his head, and picked up his own fork to cut into his omelet. "Those biscuits should be done in just a bit, I put 'em in about thirty minutes ago. And after I'm finished eating, I have to head up to Freddy's. I told him I'd help out laying some fence post today."

I looked out of the kitchen window above the sink and saw it was rainy and gray outside, then looked back at Daddy, confused. "You're working in this weather?" I loved my father's lifelong best friend, but it was a bit much to ask for work in this condition.

He shrugged, glancing up at me as he chewed his food. "It's going to be raining here for the next two weeks, with maybe one day of sunshine. It has to be done before this new bull he just bought is shipped in."

I pouted, not really knowing why I was, and he chuckled. "I haven't seen you poke that lip out that far since you were little. Tuck it in, Butterbean, Alice might bite it off," he joked, and I turned red again, while Alice and Daddy had a laugh together... Together. I looked up, wondering what had changed since last night that had made them seem so at ease with each other. They had been ready to kill each other, and now they were making jokes at my expense?

"I'll be back early, probably around two," he reassured me as he continued eating. "I figured you might want to watch the game with me this afternoon. It's USC against UGA, and they're in Georgia. I know how much you hate the Bulldogs, so I reckon you might want to see them run away with their tails tucked between their legs on their own field."

"Hell yeah," I told him with a big smile, which had more to do with his acceptance of Alice, rather than the game. "What else are Saturdays good for?"

Alice leaned into my ear so Daddy couldn't hear. "I could think of a couple of things," she hinted, pulling away with a wink that made me melt to the seat.

Daddy pretended not to notice this exchange, just concentrated on his food before getting up and pulling the biscuits out of the oven. "Alice," he said suddenly, turning around with a hot biscuit in his hand. "Catch." He tossed the biscuit, and she caught it easily and put it on my plate.

"Oh, see? Y'all make a great team," I said with a playful scoff.

Daddy and Alice laughed again, and Daddy stooped to kiss my forehead as he picked his half empty plate up from the table. "I stoked the fire in the living room, and brought in some wood from the back porch. If you need any more, it's under the blue tarp, like usual," he told me, turning on the water to rinse his plate. "And if memory serves me correct, you like to ride the four-wheeler in the rain, so I gassed it up for you. The keys are on the hook."

"Thank you," I said sweetly, smiling a special smile I reserved for my daddy, the innocent little girl smile. "You're right, I need to go get muddy."

He snagged a biscuit for the road as he tugged an old USC hat onto his head, one I'd bought for him on his fiftieth birthday, nine years ago. "Okay, girls, have fun. I'll see y'all in a little while. Be careful on that thing in those creeks, Butterbean."

"I know," I said in an annoyed fashion, knowing the dangers of swollen creeks and four-wheelers. "Tell Uncle Freddy I said hello and I love him."

"I'll tell him," he promised, ducking out of the kitchen to leave.

When I heard his truck start in the yard, I looked at Alice, pushing my plate to the side, no longer hungry in my excitement. "Let's go mud-slinging!"

She rocked back in surprise, then laughed at me uncertainly. "How about you go mud-slinging, and I'll watch from afar?" I rolled my eyes at her suggestion, and she huffed in a cute way. "Really, Andie?" Alice said, motioning at her clothes, another silk top and pinstriped black slacks with a "casual" pair of heels. My mate was _such_ a fashion prima donna.

"I've got clothes you can wear, Tyra," I said sarcastically, and she tsked at me, but had no other defense from going out on the ATV with me.

So that's how, forty-five minutes later, I had Alice out in the woods on a trail on the back of my four-wheeler, clad in an old pair of my jeans, a mud-stained white t-shirt, and a pair of my old sneakers. She was having fun, though, because every time I bent the handle bars to one side to do doughnuts in the mud, she shrieked in joy, laughing with me as we slung mud in every direction, and we were being spattered with a copious amount, as well. I hit a giant puddle on one trail a little later, and when the dirty water washed over both us, drenching us completely, I had to stop to look at her reaction. She was sitting behind me with her eyes squeezed shut and her mouth puckered tightly, the reddish brown wet dirt streaming down her pale skin. "You good back there, babe?" I yelled over the motor, and she opened one eye to give me a look like "Are you really asking me this?"

I laughed, and she huffed with her little attitude. I turned the machine around and headed back to the house, knowing I had pushed my effeminate mate to her limits when it came to being dirty, and wanting to offer her the luxury of a shower. When I pulled the four-wheeler under the lean to on the work shed and shut it off, Alice got off the back of it and swiftly grabbed a handful of mud, slapping it across my chest and spreading it around. "That's how I was doing back there... babe," she said cooly, and I grinned, not taking her bait. I waited until she'd turned around and scooped up some cold mud in my own and hand flung it at her back, but of course she _had_ to turn around and catch it in the face.

I was mortified, but I couldn't help but laugh, which made her already dark features darken that much more. "I'm sorry, Alice, I was aiming for your back and you turned around!" I said, helplessly giggling at her.

"You think you're funny," she said in a low, dangerous tone, and before I could take another breath, she had picked me up and we were flying through the cold rain.

"Alice?" I looked around, and realized she had me in her arms like a baby while she ran us... to the dock on the pond? What...? I screamed as Alice lifted me into the air at the end of the dock, realizing she was going to throw me in. And she did. She tossed me like a penny into a wishing fountain, and I hit the freezing water with a squeal, coming up with my teeth chattering, looking at my goddess reproachfully as she smiled at me. So, what did I do as I doggy-paddled in the water beneath her? I slung some up at her, but she moved too quickly and it missed her.

Unable to stay submerged long enough to try again, I broke into a fast breast stroke to get to the dock to pull myself out before I caught hypothermia. I was so cold now that my bones were rattling, I was sure, and Alice looked at me for a second before realization hit her and she scooped me up. "Andie, I'm so sorry, I wasn't even thinking about it being cold to you! Come on, I'll get us inside quick."

She took off, and the wind from how fast she ran was killer on my soaked form, but she was stripping me on the front porch before I knew it, and the next thing I knew was we were in the bathroom upstairs and she was running me a hot bath. "This is just for a moment, you need a real shower, and I'm gonna take one, too," she told me as I tried to stand up, but I was shivering so much it was hard. She picked me up again, but I said quickly, "Alice– I need a minute. To myself," I said pointedly, and she put me back down. I had to pee, and I had pee badly, and it called for her to be gone so I could do so in private, and not to mention I had to change my tampon, which she _definitely_ needed to give me space to do.

When she out of the bathroom and the door was shut behind her, I took care of my stupid human needs and put myself into the steaming bath, feeling my tight muscles unwind in the warmth. _Wow_, I thought to myself with a smile. _That was fun!_


	13. Chapter 13

1Thirteen

Remaining true to the season, Alice and I curled up on the couch in the living room to read _A Christmas Carol_ for kicks after we were both mud free. I tried to read it aloud while she purposely blew cold breath into my ear at random points during the first few chapters, making me gasp and twitch with a slight blush every time, and she thought it was cute, which made the blush worse, making her laugh at me. Once I complained, she just smiled really big, fully dimpled. "You're slowing it down to a crawl, love, and my attention span isn't very long, you know that," she told me playfully, pecking my lips. Damn it all, she was so... adorable.

I scoffed and was pushing myself off her chest when I heard the rumbling motor of my daddy's truck pulling up into the yard, and I jumped up, forgetting that I'd wanted to have a sandwich made for him when he got back from helping Freddy. But then I glanced at the clock and realized it was only noon, and he had said he'd be back at two. I supposed they'd decided to call it an early day due to the weather, and went towards the kitchen to start making him a sandwich, anyway. I heard a loud noise on the porch as I crossed the room, and before I could react in anyway, Alice was out the door and then back, carrying my father, who looked as if he'd passed out. "Daddy!" I dashed over to him as Alice placed him on the couch where we'd just been sitting, and pulled the blanket we'd been using over him. "Daddy? What happened? Are you okay?" I asked, panicked.

His head rolled around at the sound of my voice and his eyes opened, but instead of focusing on my face, they searched the room around him. "Butterbean?" he called, as if he hadn't even heard me say anything, as if he was looking for me. Horror spread through me, from my chest to every nerve ending in my body.

"Daddy, I'm right here, look at me," I said, touching his scruffy cheek, but he still couldn't see or seem to hear me.

I looked at Alice desperately, and saw she was frozen, her eyes glazed as she looked at my father, but her phone was in her hand and the dialer was pulled up on the touch screen. I reached over and attempted to take her phone, but as I did she awoke and gasped, looking at me with terrified eyes, and my heart dropped with a splash into my stomach, knowing what she'd seen. "Butterbean!" Daddy gasped, and I looked back down at him as I heard Alice start talking on her phone. His eyes were finally focused on me, and I knew he was seeing me for the first time since Alice had brought him in.

"Daddy? Can you hear me?" I was beginning to sob, grief at the thought of him leaving me encasing me completely.

The twitch of his smile trying to come through told me he could. A surge of hope went through me, and I took one of his giant hands between both of mine. "Daddy, Alice has an ambulance on the way, you're going to be fine. You have to be, okay? I need you." I was sobbing hard, and I squeezed his hand and felt him weakly squeeze back.

"I love you, Butterbean," he told me in a light whisper, then Alice was off the phone and had taken his other hand between hers. His eyes shifted to her face, and he tried to smile again. "Alice, you tell her everything," he whispered, "And..." he was losing breath, getting weaker with every second that ticked by, but he sucked in a great deal of air and focused on Alice's face intensely. "_Remember your word._" These were the strongest words he spoke, and I was wondering what he was talking about.

"I promise, Thomas," she whispered beside me, and though my eyes never left my father's face, I registered that Alice understood perfectly.

"You have Alice now," Daddy said to me, smiling weakly, but his biggest one yet, and placing my hand on hers. I took the symbol for what it was, he was giving her my hand, therefore telling us he fully approved. "Wish I could be around to walk you to her when she marries you, Butterbean." I stared at him, terrified of life without him, sobs shaking me from head to toe. His eyes slid out of focus and his breathing stopped, and my heart stopped with his.

"Daddy? Daddy! No! I need you both, don't leave me! DADDY! DADDY! NO NO PLEASE NO! COME BACK!" I was screaming hysterically, and I threw myself across his wide chest, beating my fist into his still body, and when I heard the silence of his heart, and I wailed so high I lost my voice in it. Alice draped herself over me, holding me, petting my hair as I came apart beneath her, over my dead father's recently non-beating heart. He couldn't leave me, he couldn't. What would I do, now? I prayed as hard as I could that I was in a nightmare, and that I would wake up, but I knew my eyes were not closed to my world, my reality. And the harsh reality was I'd really just lost my hero. I was holding on to him for dear life, thinking about how there would be no more of his wisdom, his loud laughter, or his twinkling eyes. Gone were the days I could run home to South Carolina "when the going got tough", as he said. I could hear his baritone voice in my head telling me, "You know where home will always be, Butterbean." I lost my breath as I realized I would never hear that again, Butterbean. He was the only person in the world who called me that.

I felt cool hands pry beneath me and lift me up into cool arms, which wrapped around me firmly, protectively, and my hot, tear-stained face sought cool sanctuary in a secure nook, and I felt myself rocking softly. Then I heard wind chimes, or tiny bells, ringing beautifully in my ear as a cool breeze grazed it gently, comforting me. "Shh, I've got you, my love, I won't let you break. It's okay, Andie, it's okay, he's in a better place now. He's happy. I'm so sorry you're hurting," Alice whispered softly to me, pressing her lips against my hair as she rocked me, and I nuzzled further into her soft neck, breathing all that was my Alice to pull myself out of misery.

That's right. Daddy was right. I have Alice now and she is home. But that didn't make losing him hurt any less.

**

* * *

****AlicePOV**

I rocked Andie back and forth, something I'd seen mothers do for crying children, and I felt the need to have her against me, to shelter her from the on-setting sorrow that was cracking her. I refused to let her break. It seemed to help, as she stopped screaming and buried her swollen face in my neck as I began. I tried to comfort her best I could, telling her things I felt about how he'd chose to pass. He was happy when he gave up, he knew Andie would be happy, and it was enough for him. I'd surmised that much of Thomas's personality, that he would give his life for his little girl's happiness, and he did. I was lost beyond that, with inconsolable mate shaking in my embrace, and I could just hope that she would heal, because I could sense the scars forming over her heart as she cried. I could not fully sympathize with her, as I had no recollections of losing someone that close to me. The nearest thing I could imagine was the vision I'd had of her dead in my arms, feeling the pain that never was, and if I could help it, never would be. I wished I could cry with her, show her I was not immune to her pain from her loss.

Andie's eyes. Thomas's eyes. They were still open, merely staring at the ceiling. Fuck. What could I do? I'd promised Thomas I'd take care of her, and look at me, already letting her rip at the seams. But I had a feeling there was nothing anyone could do for Andie, except bring her father back, and she wasn't naive enough to believe it was possible. My arms tightened around her as I heard the ambulance coming sooner than I could have even predicted, tires on the dirt road. Andie looked up at my face as I stared expectantly at the screen door, and she sighed.

"They're going to take him," she whispered, and I looked down at her, pressing my lips to her forehead.

"It's okay," I whispered back, looking back at Thomas. The last thing he'd done was give me his daughter's hand, and tell her he wished he could walk her to me when I marry her. Marriage had not even crossed my mind, yet. It was just something I assumed would happen in due course. I felt the pressure of tears that would never fall as I slowly rocked my mate. He had loved her, she was everything to him, and he had given her to me.

I heard the truck stop in the yard and two doors slam, before there was a pair of thundering feet tearing up the fronts steps, and the screen door was slung open. "Did someone– oh, shit, it really is Thomas!" A scrawny young boy of no more than twenty-one rushed in the door and stooped beside us on the floor next to the couch, checking Thomas for a pulse that did not beat.

A second medic came in the door with a bag, but stopped short when the first guys shook his head slowly and withdrew his hand from Thomas's neck. "I gotta call my pop, they were friends," the skinny guy told his partner, and Andie peeked out of my neck to see him.

"Drew?" she asked blankly, sitting up in my lap as the boy's eyes shot over to her and his face lit up and fell all at once at the sight of her.

"Andie?" he said, partially anguished, and partially relieved. "God, I'm so sorry." He held his arms open for a hug, and I almost didn't let her go to him; I knew why when he closed his eye and smiled when he wrapped his arms around her a second later. This fucker had a thing for my mate! _No no no, calm down_, I told myself, taking a deep breath, willing it to actually help relax my instincts, because this guy was setting them loose as a threat. I whipped out my phone, trying to seem nonchalant as possible, while I fought to swallow the snarl rising in my throat. _Andie's father died, and I'm lost. Anyone have any suggestions? _I sent that as mass text to my entire family, Jacob Black included because he was as close to human as I had saved in my phonebook besides Andie herself.

"Pop and me will help with the funeral," Drew was whispering to Andie as he held her. "You won't have to worry about a thing." The second medic was opening the screen door to bring in the stretcher, and I tried to count his foot falls in the mud outside to distract me from the tone he was using to relay these words to her. "You can even stay with us until you go back to school," he offered, and I saw Andie stiffen at it as I bit back the string of growls and snarls of not-so-nice words I wanted to hurl at him, and then gently extract herself from him, moving a step back.

"I'll be fine here, Drew. Alice is with me." She looked over her shoulder and bade me come, and I moved to stand beside her, and she took my hand, lacing her fingers through mine. I saw his dark eyes flicker down at our hands, then he looked back up at Andie, his face void, as she introduced me. "Drew, this is my world, my existence. Alice, this is my friend, Drew," she said, and he nodded to me. "We grew up together."

I didn't say anything, lest I rip his fucking eyes out for even looking at she who belonged to me. Instead I leaned over and pressed my lips to her temple, showing her affection he couldn't mistake to physically show my territory, without taking my eyes from his. He saw what I wanted him to see, as he swallowed hard and took a step back, looking at the door as the other guy came back. "Don't worry, Andie," he said without looking at me again. "I'll take good care of him."

With that, he turned to help his partner, and Andie turned back into my chest to hide her face as it came back to her what was going on around her. Seeing Drew had shocked her out of reality momentarily, and now she began to succumb to a fresh batch of tears in my arms, and I gently moved her to the stairs, feeling Drew's eyes on us as I helped her climb them. I was going to lie with her in her room and let her cry, because I didn't feel it healthy to let her see them take him away like that. She had seen too much, too soon, already.

We lay in almost silence, her sobs and whimpers the only sound after Drew and his partner had taken Thomas and their leave. I assumed the vision of them going to the funeral home meant Drew knew his cause of death as well as I did, and needed no autopsy to know otherwise. I would tell Andie everything once she was rested, and calm, though I didn't really know how to say it. My phone went off in my pocket and I fished for it, knowing it was answers from my earlier question, and sure enough I had eight texts from the eight people I had asked.

_Hold her and let her cry to you, let her vent it out,_ Bella said, and I told her I was.

_Be there for her to talk to, don't leave her side, and god knows, Alice, don't be too brash with her,_ Edward replied, and I rolled my eyes as I texted him to bite me and of course she knew I was there for her and wouldn't leave her.

_Is she going to change now?_ Rosalie, of course, true to form. Cold as her flesh. I didn't even reply to that, slightly disgusted, but Emmett's reply made me feel a little better.

_Try to make her smile,_ Emmett suggested, and though I knew he meant well, I didn't think that one would be fruitful at this stage. It would have to come later. I told him so.

_Remind her that he'll always be with her, and always watching over her_, Esme advised, and I made note of that, as I hadn't told her so. I thanked Esme with all capital letters.

_Tell her that she's family to us, even though we've never met, as she may feel orphaned at the moment, homeless, even, _Carlisle told me kindly, and I smiled softly at his heart which matched the golden shade of his eyes. I thanked him his as well. Thomas would have loved him.

_I'm so sorry to hear that. Tell Andie I'm sorry, and that I send my thoughts. I miss you guys, _Jasper said, and I felt a pull for my compassionate best friend, but was secretly glad he wasn't here to feel Andie's sorrow with his potent empathetic gift. I couldn't handle them both hurting at this level. I told him I'd pass his message along.

_Keep her comfortable and encourage her to cry, _Jacob told me, then another text with his name showed up before I could hit the reply button. _Nessie is offended you didn't ask her opinion. I am to enlighten you that you should kiss her tears away. And Ness misses you._ I smiled at my little niece, who probably wasn't so little anymore, come to think of it. I hadn't been to Forks to see that part of the family for quite some time, maybe seven months, and she was the physical appearance of a twelve year old with the mind of an adult. She was three and a half years old. But that's what happens with human-vampire hybrids, apparently. I texted them back with my thanks and my love.

I missed my family very much, Rose included, although I was still a little miffed about her lack of compassion. A loud sniff pulled me out of my thoughts. I pulled the groggily sniffing girl in my embrace closer to me and she threw a leg over my lap to pull herself even closer. I buried my nose in her long dark hair, and she sighed heavily into my chest, pulling lightly at my shirt, surprising me, and I looked down at her. "Andie...?" Surely she didn't want...? How...?

She looked up at me with wide eyes, tears standing in them even though they were so dry from ones shed before. "Please Alice, I need you. Please," she said, nearly begging me, as she held back a sob, fiddling with the draw string on the pajama pants I was wearing, and I put a hand on hers to stop her, confused.

"Andie," I said gently, something clicking in my mind. She wanted to be close to me as possible. "Now is not the time for that, love. You need your rest. We have forever for that."

She gave up and laid her head back down on my chest, sobbing again, but she wasn't angry with me like I was preparing for. "You told me you'd never tell me no," she pouted from my chest a minute later.

I sighed heavily, not answering her, taking her bait for an argument. We'd gone a few hours without one, which was record for our bickering, and I wasn't ready to break it. When I never replied, she just huffed and rolled away from me, her back planted firmly a foot away from me in the double bed. God, why does she have to be so _stubborn_? I rolled over with her and tried to put my arm around her, but she shoved her elbow backwards into me, and though I knew it had to hurt like hell, she didn't even wince in the slightest. "Leave me alone. Go kill a deer or something," she said tonelessly, but it was like daggers through my heart. What did I do?

"Andie, please don't-"

"Alice! Just give me some space for a little while, since you don't want to _not_ give me space."

I sat up, confused and irritated. "Really? Because I won't let you fuck me I'm being tossed out to- go kill a deer?"

"It has nothing to do with just _fucking _you, Alice! I just- I need- I want to be near you, I want to lose myself in you like I did this morning! I can't feel anything but sunshine when I'm with you, when we're close like that." She rolled over and looked at me, and I felt myself crumple in her eyes. "I don't want to feel this, anymore. I want some silver lining. I've lost my daddy... but I still have you."

**A/N: As always reviews are appreciated, it gives me strength to continue... otherwise I just lurk around here doing nothing but nothing. Give me thoughts. Give me feedback. Personal opinions, something.**


	14. Chapter 14

_She means too much to me_, I thought to myself as we lay together after I'd foolishly assaulted her for sex that I didn't even understand. Where had that come from? My father was less than three hours dead, I was so overcome with pain that I couldn't breathe, and I had just spent the last hour ravaging the only person I had left in the word, and not even lovingly. I squeezed my eyes shut at the images, how I had pushed her face to one side to attack her neck, how I had ripped my nails across her stony flesh, and how I had shoved myself against her. I'd only used her, trying to run away. I'd desecrated my goddess, yet she still held me now like she always had, as if I deserved it. I couldn't be more disgusted with myself, more sick to my stomach at my actions. But– I had _needed_ to feel her, I needed to drown in the bliss that only comes from when she's against me. It was only after she had thrown her head back and her body arched into me that the guilt set in, and now it seemed endless.

Alice knew me better than I knew myself. She had tried to stop me, but in my chaotic perception it seemed like she didn't want me, was rejecting me, and it made everything I was already feeling amplify threefold. It angered me as well, so that when she gave in and let me touch her, I did so forcefully and I never once looked at my mate's face as I took horrible advantage of her perfection from the neck down.

Hence, why I was standing up next to my bed in nothing but boxers, fighting to pull on a tank top, then leaving Alice staring after me as I stomped out, twisting my long hair into a loose ponytail. I didn't even notice that I had stopped in front of my father's gun cabinet until I had my 9mm case and a box of ammunition in my hands, with the back door slamming behind me. Therapy. Therapy, and memories. I remembered when my daddy had taught me to shoot a gun, when I was seven. He had been so careful and gentle about it, teaching me with a .22 rifle, a bolt action. I remembered his assurance that practice made perfect, when I became upset that I had not hit the target even once.

It was getting dark even though it wasn't even five o' clock, mostly due t the rain heavy clouds that hung low above me, and though I was bare footed and had hardly any clothes on, I was numb to the elements as I crossed the back yard to the target range Daddy had set up years and years ago. All I could think about as I loaded the magazine a second later was hoe disrespectful I'd been to my Alice– _Alice_, of everyone else I could have shown my darker side to, the one that meant the most to me caught the brunt. She was still catching it even now with my silence after I'd made her come, and then I had coldly left her there to wonder what was going through my mind. My desire to be away from her had nothing to do with her. It was me. It was always me who ended up pushing away the ones I'd loved, everyone but my father, and until recently, Alice herself.

"I tried to warn her," I told myself, pushing my glasses up before they fell off my face and into mud. "I knew I'd screw it up." I shoved the magazine into its home. "She's too good for me, Daddy." I took aim with my right hand, my left eye squinting shut. I felt the anger return full force. "That's what you should have told me." I growled as I let my finger fall ten times on my semi-automatic hand gun, each blast like its own separate punch to my own face, which felt amazing, and each _tink_ of the casings as they were released were like brass tears I couldn't shed anymore. The kick back in my straight wrist was like a pulsating heart beat, making me smile somewhat inside. How dare he leave me alone here? I was only twenty, I had no idea what to do from here. In my mind I saw a flash of honey eyes, and I felt myself get even angrier that I had ruined her for myself, that my selfish actions would probably drive her away, same as everyone before her. There was still time to make a decision based on these events, I felt. I was still mortal, and deserved to remain so, as I certainly did not deserve the beautiful soul that waited on me inside while I had a tantrum outside. Mortal meant I could die. Daddy was on that side.

I was disappointed when my gun clicked emptily, and when I lowered my hand, the firearm became excessively heavy, clutched tightly in my fingers as it was. I gazed down at the cold, black steel. _Hand held death_, I thought to myself, letting my arm fall to my side as I turned my eyes to the targets in front of me, seeing my marks. _I would have made one hell of a shot at the academy_. I sighed heavily, thinking about my career. I'd wanted to be an agent for the F.B.I. all my life, maybe due to an overdose of the mystique of Hannibal Lecter from a young age. I even went so far to create a fantasy of the perfect murderer, and travel hypothetical routes in my pursuit and eventual capture of him. The hypothesis that Alice referred to as the one that intrigued her was born directly from that fantastic killer.

Gone, just like my father, were my aspirations, my goals, and even my rigid routine. In their place were optimism and love, an eternity of it. Could a real love story be just that, without tragedy? I looked back at the gun in my hand, heavier than ever, taunting me, calling me a coward. I had no control over my left hand as it shook a single cartridge from the box and opened the chamber of my gun, sliding it directly in, then sliding the barrel back, closing it as well as half cocking the firing pin. Alice...

"She's better off," I whispered, convincing myself. I squeezed my eyes shut as I slowly turned the gun around to face me, and Alice's warm buttery eyes, and brilliant smile were all I could see. "I love you, and I'm sorry I wasn't good enough. I wanted to be." I brought the half-cocked gun to my lips, pausing at the greasy feel of the metal muzzle, then took a deep breath as I pushed it past them and between my teeth, the taste now on my tongue. _Goodbye, my love_, I thought to myself, my thumb moving to the hammer. Could I really do this, though? Leave Alice? She seemed to want me forever, literally, and who was I to judge what was best for her?

Though I knew I had not put my finger near the trigger, I felt the gun vibrate and a cold hand clasp onto my wrist, then I was flying, and I hit the ground hard. "ARE YOU STUPID?" A voice roared at me, but it was blurry and I could not see the person, as my glasses had flown from my face as I had soared through the air. "YOU SELFISH LITTLE BRAT! What about my sister, huh? WHAT ABOUT ALICE?"

The wind had been knocked out of me when I landed, so there was no way I could catch my breath to reply to the woman who shrieked these words at me, the one who had me up in the air again, suspended by her frigid hand around my throat. "Do you really want to die? Because it would be my pleasure right now," she went on in a tone that reminded me of frozen silk, and I saw blonde hair, making my mind click in recognition. This was–

"ROSALIE!" I heard Alice's voice yell from behind me in volumes you wouldn't believe from one that was only five feet tall. Rosalie simultaneously let me go, but instead of crashing to the ground, I landed in Alice's waiting arms, which automatically cradled me to her chest. "What the _hell_ do you call yourself doing?"

"She was about to empty her useless brain out of the back of her head! You should be _thanking _me that I decided to come here! What if I hadn't shown up? Huh? You would be trying to find the nearest bon fire in this county!"

Fire. That's what kills a vampire. I shuddered at the thought in Alice's arms, and I felt her constrict them a little tighter. "She wasn't! Don't you think I would have seen it? Do you think she would have been out here all this time with a gun, if I knew she were about to kill herself? She _was _thinking about it, but after ten seconds with the gun in her mouth, she was going to pull it out and call for me! Overreact much, Rose? Damn it. She's been through enough today, without you terrorizing her, she's already scared to death of you," Alice said scathingly, and though I couldn't see her features clearly, I heard the scowl in her voice.

Rosalie hissed, and I felt it was meant for me and Alice together. "To not see you broken? Yes, little sister, I overreact that much. I don't trust this–girl–"

"You don't have to, Rosalie," Alice interrupted her, softer toned now. "Because I do."

I felt tears rise again, but I blinked them back and swallowed the lump that formed in my throat at her words. It was quiet then, the two of them facing off, and me curled against Alice in fear of her older, beautiful, deadly sister. Rosalie scoffed, making me jump in my trepidation, and I looked over to see her holding up my gun. "Who shoots a Glock 26, anyway? Buy a sawed off 12 gauge." She disdainfully tossed my gun into its case and zipped it up. "Well?" she barked at me, making me jump again. "Aren't you going to invite me in? It _is_ fucking raining, you know."

Alice took a turn to scoff, but I shook my head at my mate and looked back at Rosalie. "R-Rosalie? Would you l-like t-to come in?" I stammered in the terror she had instilled, and Alice wordlessly turned her back to her sister, carrying me up to the house at a human pace, and she slid my rain and mud spattered glasses back into their place. I gasped at how furious she looked, her eyes as black as they had been the day before.

"You and I are going to have a _long_ talk about this later," she growled at me, and I gulped, scared at what she might say to me. I was thankful that I hadn't done it, thankful that Rosalie had shown up and taken the choice from me, and GOD I was thankful that Alice was real, and I could feel her cool breath as she breathed out of her perfect little nose. I just didn't want her to see the weakness. Not when she only saw my strength. "But as you can see, I need to hunt first."

"Alice, I–"

"Not right now, Andie, I can't," she almost-but-not-quite snapped at me as we came in the back door. I shut my mouth and ignored the way my eyes tightened again. Too many tears today, and I didn't like it. "Just go take another shower, we'll talk when I get back."

She put me down on my feet in the living room, and I slowly drug across the threadbare carpet to the stairs, not looking up at either of the immaculate girls in my living room. "Andie?" I heard that loving tone, the way I loved for her to say my name, and I paused with my right foot on the bottom step, but I couldn't look at her, scared my unshed tears would betray me and fall. How could I have ever wanted to leave her?

I felt her touch beneath my chin, and felt her turn my face to look at her, but I did not come out of my head until her black eyes locked onto mine, and my tear indeed fell free. She cradled my face, brushing her nose against mine, wiping my tears away with caressing thumbs. "It's going to get better, I promise," she whispered, gently locking lips with me, and I saw lights behind my closed eyelids at the sensation. "Rose will stay with you while I'm gone."

I heard Rosalie scoff again, as it seemed to be how she exhaled every breath she every inhaled, but I flinched at the sound reflexively. Alice glared at Rosalie. "Go on upstairs, I need to talk to Rose," she told me quietly, and I went on.

"Can't you go five minutes without hurting her?" I heard Alice hiss to Rosalie.

"Can she go an eternity without hurting _herself_?" Rosalie shot back, not bothering to lower her voice, making me wince as I shut the bathroom door behind me. What the hell was she doing here, anyway?

**A/N: Ah, the beauty of Rosalie's temper. Gotta love it. But I've got the next chapter almost done, so it won't be long til the funeral. After that, I am jumping ahead some months... time to really dig in, guys. I am excited, and I hope you guys are too. Oh, and uh- reviews? Yes? :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Sorry it's been a few days... Fifteen was done, and I've just been too lazy to post it. I hope sixteen won't take as long, but to be honest, I haven't even started writing it lol. This is a bridge chapter, it will lead into Thomas's funeral, which I suppose will be the next chapter. As always, I love you guys for the favorite adds and alerts, thank you so much for having good news in my email every time I check it! It means the world to me. Okay, blah, here we go...**

My third and longest shower of the day, I stood in the steaming water for at least an hour, not shutting it off until it began to run ice cold. Even then I stood there letting the water drip from my body, staring at the tub floor, thinking this was among the last times I would ever stand in this shower, the one I had grown up using. I thought about the funeral; I hoped they didn't expect me to speak his eulogy. There was no way I could keep my composure, and merely the thought of standing over my father's coffin made me shake. And not to mention I had nothing to wear... I would have to go shopping tomorrow, and the thought made me shudder. I'd been shopping with Alice before, and whereas I didn't mind shopping, she treated it like an Olympic sport. I groaned as I finally opened the shower curtain and grabbed my towel.

I heard the television downstairs when I opened the bathroom door a few mintues later to cross the hall into my bedroom, but I had no intentions of joining Rosalie down there, I'd much rather wait on Alice in my room. As soon as I was dressed in flannel pajamas I grabbed my iPod and my ear buds, kicking out on my bed to listen to some nice, loud metal to drown out my thoughts. Daddy hated my music. I would come home from school and slap in a Nirvana CD in my mellow moods, or if I were angry it would be Kittie, loud and proud. It was Kittie I chose to listen to now. I closed my eyes and sighed as the vicious riffs bled into my ears, and I felt myself sinking into the spring mattress on my bed. I would have to sell this house, this property. Or maybe not, as I was to live for a very long time... I could keep this piece of my humanity, surely. The animals were another story. I would have to sell the horses, find homes for the dogs. I sighed again. The music wasn't exactly drowning out my thoughts as I wanted, but it was nice to hear something familiar and comforting.

I opened my eyes as the atmosphere of my bedroom changed, to see a livid Rosalie glaring down at me, her hand on the doorknob of my open door. I sat straight up in bed, snatching my ear buds out and swallowing hard. "Did you call me?" I squeaked.

"I did. You have a visitor downstairs, adamant to see you. I told him you weren't to be disturbed at the moment, but he won't leave," she said tersely, but I heard underlying tones that were almost... compassionate? And her golden eyes were somewhat softer than I'd yet to see them.

"Thank you," I said gratefully, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed to follow her downstairs. She nodded, then turned to go. "Hey- Rosalie?"

She looked over her shoulder with a perfect eyebrow raised.

"I mean that for everything. Thank you." I meant the entire afternoon, and she knew that.

She opened her mouth, hesitated, then nodded again. "You're welcome. Just don't be stupid," she murmured, leaving the room with the ghost of a smile on her face. It made me just a little less afraid of her.

She let me go down the stairs first, and she floated down them soundlessly behind me as I came down like a stampeding herd of cattle. I couldn't even say hello before Drew whipped around and shot a glare at Rosalie as she took a seat on the couch and picked up the remote in her slender hand. "I had to give her a damn fingerprint and a blood sample before she'd even let me see you!" he complained, and I couldn't help but lock eyes with Rosalie and chuckle at that with her, shaking my head at her smirk.

"I'm not really in the mood for company, Drew," I told him, turning back to look at him. "Rosalie was just looking out for me, and she doesn't know you."

"Hell, I grew up with you! I told her that," he grated, still shooting daggers at the beautiful blonde, who ignored him supremely by turning up the volume on the television, still smirking.

His mouth fell open at her superior stance, and I shook my head at him, taking him by the elbow and leading him to the kitchen to exit onto the back porch. "Come on, Drew. Let's go have a beer on the back porch, like old times." I left my future sister-in-law in the living room flipping channels lazily, but I saw her eyes cut to us as we exited.

"So, that's your girlfriend's sister?" he asked me as I opened the old refrigerator outside and grabbed two bottles, handing one to him.

"Yep, that's Rosalie," I answered him, twisting the cap off my bottle and turning it up.

He snorted, behind his own bottle. "Funny, she told me her name was 'None of your fucking business'," he said, and I shook my head with a chuckle.

"Don't feel bad, Drew. She doesn't like me, either."

"Then what's she doing here?" He looked over at me as I shrugged and took another swallow, smaller this time. "Good looking girls, both of them," he went on, and I nodded in agreement, but didn't reply. I knew they were inhumanly perfect. Drew sighed and turned his back to me, looking out over the back yard. "I still think you're prettier than they are," he said softly, so I almost didn't hear him. H eturned back around, and I saw he was looking down at the bottle in his hands, fingering the label shyly.

I sighed as heavily as he had a moment before, reaching up to pat his shoulder. I knew he had nursed a soft spot for me all our lives, but I also knew that no matter how much I cared about him, it would never work. I really am gay, I really like females, and Drew was all male, I knew first hand; he had taken my virginity when we were seventeen, right before I left for college. I was born to like females, because Alice is female... and I was born for her. "What did the funeral home say?" I tried to change the subject, and it worked effectively.

"You have to drop off a suit tomorrow before two. Does Thomas even have any suits? I haven't seen him in one since your mama's funeral when we were kids."

"No, he burned that one, one night he and the whiskey got into a long conversation," I said dryly, remembering clearly. "I have to go shopping tomorrow, anyway, to get something for me to wear. I'll buy his suit first. Daddy needs to go out in style." My voice broke a little and I felt Drew slide an arm around my waist. "So, is the wake tomorrow night, then?"

"Starts at six, goes until nine. The funeral is the next day, eleven a.m. sharp. Are you going to ride with me and Pop?" Drew said this hopefully, and I didn't look at him when I shook my head, not wanting to see his face fall.

"Drew, I know you don't understand this, but I need to be with Alice as much as possible right now. I did something stupid today... Rosalie saved me. And I am bringing them both to the funeral with me, I need them."

"Are you going to host a dinner?"

I shook my head again. "I have no desire to be around all his drunk redneck friends. No offense to you or Uncle Freddy. I love you both like family. You are welcome here, both of you. But I don't want the whole gang here. It's bad enough I'll be passed around from hug to hug, hearing the same slurred apologies over and over at the funeral home, I don't want them here after."

Drew nodded, understanding my position completely, as we had grown up with the same close knit group people. "Agnes has already started cooking a dish to bring by," he hinted, "but I think I'll call her tonight and tell her to bring it to Pop's place. If we host there, would you come by?"

I shrugged noncommitally. I didn't want to make promises I knew I probably wouldn't keep, it wasn't fair to Drew or to his father.

"Well, have you figured out what you're going to do about the bank?"

I gave him a blank stare. "Bank? What bank?"

"They're foreclosing on the property..." he prompted, as if I had an idea what he was talking about. This was new to me.

"What? Why? I thought this was all paid off?" I asked, my heart beat picking up. I couldn't lose this place, I needed it to stay here because I couldn't. I needed this place to return to when I wanted a taste of my history once I became immortal.

Drew stared at me for a long minute before he placed his beer on the railing and cleared his throat. "Andie," he said slowly, "Thomas took out a loan on the property to send you to school. When he couldn't work after the diagnosis-"

"_Diagnosis_? What the fuck are you talking about, Drew?"

"He had cirrhosis of the liver, Andie. He never told you?"

I fell back against the rail in shock, my mouth falling open. No, he had never told me. I knew why he didn't, of course, we were so alike. I would have came home to take care of him, and dropped everything I had to do so. I wouldn't have told him, either, if the situation was reversed. He had put up everything for me. He wasn't going to let me throw it away. I was vaguely aware of Drew holding me from behind, his breath in my hair, but I couldn't muster the mind to push him away. Daddy knew he was going to die, and he didn't tell me. That's all I could think about. I heard someone clear their throat sharply, and I turned my face to see Alice standing at the back door, her hand on her hip, a death stare aimed at Drew, who automatically dropped his arms and stepped away from me. Seeing her standing there triggered a memory from earlier that day.

"Alice?" She turned her eyes from Drew to me, the expression softening immediately. "What did Daddy mean? When he told you to tell me everything?"

Her eyes flickered to Drew and back significantly. "We'll talk about that later," she replied, but I shook my head. His presence didn't matter to me.

"Was it about the house and his health?" I blurted out, and she sighed with a slow nod.

"Among other things that should be kept between us," she told me gently, and I nodded, accepting it. Silence fell on the porch, and all I could hear was the rain falling out in the dark.

I looked out into the wet night, and the hands I felt slide around me then were not Drew's, the touch was unmistakable as I felt the cold permeate the flannel top I was wearing, and the cool breath I felt tickle my ear as she rested her chin on my shoulder. I placed my hands on her wrists and held her arms there, my eyes closing. The intimacy between Alice and I became too much for Drew, who finished his beer in one chug, and released a belch that I'm sure made Rosalie gag inside. "Well," he said loudly, "I guess I'll be going then. I'll see you tomorrow night, Andie."

"Be careful, Drew. I'll see you tomorrow," I answered without looking away from the back yard or pulling away from my mate. I heard the back door open and close and I sighed, picking up my beer from the railing and taking a sip. "What would you like to discuss first?" I asked Alice, who released me and then guided me to sit on an old recliner out there moldering away.

She perched on the railing facing me,swinging her feet a little, but she didn't answer right away, letting me know she was nervous. "Please don't be mad that I hadn't told you, yet," she said in a rush. "He told me everything this morning, before you were awake." Oh, so that's where she had been. "He questioned me about the mate thing, and asked about some concerns he harbored."

"Like what?" I asked, turning my beer up again.

She hesitated a nanosecond before answering. "Well... he wanted to know how long it had been since I fed from a human, and if I had ever changed anyone. You know the answer to both of those questions, and I was just as honest with him. He told me about Kate... I know her."

My eyes shot up to her face. "You know Kate?"

She nodded slowly. "I hold her dear, and I call her 'cousin'." She paused, watching for a reaction from me, but I gave her nothing to defend. If Alice knew Kate, I would eventually meet her. Then I could handle my business with that one. "Kate as I know her is a good hearted person, and I'm sure she had her own reasons for leaving. She found her mate three years ago, in a spirited vampire named Garrett. I plan to speak to her about Thomas... she would want to come to say goodbye, Andie. I was wondering if you would object?"

I didn't say anything at first. Daddy had loved her. She had hurt him. But I'm sure he would be honored if she came. "No, I wouldn't. He loved her."

Alice nodded. "I'll call her later. You two should meet, anyway. She inadvertly raised you, and would be proud of the work Thomas put into your future. You will like her, Andie. She's wonderful."

"She would have to be," I muttered darkly, thinking it would be a cold day in hell before I could like the woman that shattered my father's heart, and carried on an affair with him when she knew he was married and had a family. But Daddy had made a good point: I did know the allure... Mine was sitting across the porch from me.

Alice tapped the side of her head. "You will like her, baby. I've seen it. You two will be like sisters."

Damn premonitions. "What else did he say?" I asked, ready to move on in the conversation. I would deal with Kate when I saw her.

"The house has been taken care of, love. I handled that with a few texts and a phonecall earlier, before I came out here to pull that boy off of you. The house and the land are yours, in your name. Merry Christmas." She gave me a tiny smile, and I gave her a grin. Of course she handled that for me, she knew how I felt about my childhood home. "He admitted to me that he knew he was dying, and asked me not to repeat it to you, because he didn't want you to do what we both know you would have done, had you known."

"I know that."

"He also asked me to make him some promises," she said, still swinging her feet.

Promises? He knew he didn't have long left, if he were asking promises of her. My father was never one to ask anything of anyone. "Such as?" I held my breath as she answered.

"That I keep you happy, and that I will never leave you. He had no reason to fear that. I won't ever even toy with the idea. He also asked me to make sure you never forget him."

I fought the tears that began to sting at my eyes, finishing off my beer instead of breaking down. "How could I?" I asked her, my voice cracking a little. "Will I lose my memories when I become a vampire?"

"No, you won't. I told him that you wouldn't need me to remind you of him. He is a part of you, I see him in you more now than ever, given the chance he gave me this morning. Your mannerisms, the way you think. You are your father made over, in the flesh. The only part of him that you'll lose is your eyes... they will turn red, then as you dilute the human blood in you, fade into the ocher that mine are."

I sat there in silence, letting her words sink in, thinking hard. "He began to love you," I said sadly, my heart breaking that he never got to know her as I do. He had honestly approved of Alice, had given her my hand, had trusted her literally with my life. I felt the urge to hug him, and then the sorrow that I couldn't anymore.

"As I began to love him. He loved you, and that was enough for me. How could I even be angry with a man that held you in such a high regard as he?" She hopped down from the railing and walked over to me, and I sat back in the recliner, allowing her to take her place in my lap. She pushed my hair out of my face, tucking it behind my ears, and pressed her lips to my forehead. "You were his world, and a blind man can see how much you mean to me. Your father was no fool, Andie. He knew I that I belong to you, and only to you."

I buried my face in her chest, succumbing to the tears I had previously struggled against. She held my head there, running her fingers through my hair, humming a soft tune in her beautiful voice to comfort me, and I shook with sobs. She had sworn to my father. And his last words were telling me he wished he could walk me down the aisle to her. "I'm sorry," I sobbed and she paused in her stroking.

"For what?" she asked blankly, making me sob even harder that she didn't take my assault that day to heart. What had I done to deserve her? I needed to make it a daily ritual, whatever it had been.

"Everything. For basically raping you. For being stupid with my gun. For hurting you with both actions."

Alice pulled my face from her shirt so she could see my eyes. "Andie, you didn't rape me. I felt bad for enjoying it. If you don't recall, I came for you. As for your gun, I knew you wouldn't do it, I saw you pull it free and yell for me. And yes, it was hard to have the vision of you with it in your mouth, but you haven't hurt me once today. It's okay, I'm still here, and I'm not going anywhere."

I nodded, wiping my face on my sleeve, sniffing hard. "I think I need to lay down. I'm exhausted, Alice. I think this has been the longest day of my life."

"It is probably best," she agreed, standing up and pulling me to my feet. "We have to get up early and go shopping, after all." She tried very hard to diguise the excitement in her voice, but I still giggled at it. She was so cute. I loved her so much.

We entered the house, and I drug my feet through the kitchen, barely sparing a glance that it had somehow cleaned itself, and the dishes from breakfast had been cleaned up and put away. I realized I had not eaten anything after that. Rosalie was still on the couch, watching _America's Next Top Model_ reruns on Oxygen, and she looked at us as we came in. "Are you okay?" she asked me, making me stop walking in pure shock.

"Y-yeah. Thank you. Good night, Rosalie."

"Call me Rose. Good night, Andie. Sweet dreams." And she turned her attention back to the television.

I looked at my mate, who had a huge grin on her face, and my mouth moved up and down wordlessly. What had I done to change the way Rosalie had felt about me? Alice put a finger to her lips, and led me up the stairs. Once we were in my bedroom, and Alice had tucked me in and crawled in next to me, I gave her a questioning look. "Aren't you going to keep Rose company?" The nickname felt odd on my lips, but Alice took it in stride, only pecking my lips as she pulled me onto her chest.

"No, I'm not leaving you tonight. She understands."

I was almost asleep some minutes later when Alice whispered my name, her fingers once again combing through my hair.

"Mmm?" I said, comfortable and nearly out like a light.

"Promise me you'll never leave me," she whispered, sounding scared.

I tilted my face up without opening my eyes, planting a soft kiss on her jaw. "I swear on everything, Alice, I'm here for eternity, just as soon as I handle my affairs and my head is on straight... One bite, you say?"

"One bite," she affirmed, "and then a few days of burning... then an eternity of bloodlust... with me."

"Worth it," I yawned, not worried about the bloodlust at all anymore. I knew I couldn't leave her, now. I knew she was worth whatever hardships existence handed me. I knew now that I wanted to live forever, if it meant her by my side. I stretched up, still not opening my eyes, and captured her lips with mine. "Who needs heaven when I have you?"


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Due to the amount of complaining I have received about fears that I will not continue to write this story, I decided to post this before I work on Ch. 2 of The Hogwarts** **Few. I dedicate this chapter to April, who has been bitching for days now. You better read this tonight, hooker! :P**

**If you haven't read my newest story, yet, you should! **

**All jokes aside, here you go, guys! Reviews are always, always, ALWAYS appreciated!**

I'd only been in a funeral home twice before in my life. The first time was when my mother and sister died, so I can barely remember that now; but the second time was just the night before, when I had to brave my father's wake. I hugged everyone I was supposed to hug, introduced Alice to whomever asked about her, and tried to hide behind his casket as much as possible. I wasn't cut out for being the grieving daughter; all I could think about was running away and not coming back.

When we had gotten home around ten, I told Alice of my decision to not return to school or work. I felt that it was pointless, as I planned to change soon. There was nothing left for me in my human life, and I could always return to school later. She didn't argue, and only asked what my plans would be now. "You," I told her simply, and she smiled softly, giving me a tender kiss.

I didn't sleep the night before the funeral. I instead cleaned out the refrigerator in the kitchen and the deep freezer out back. I left a rump roast of one of my daddy's recent kills out to thaw, planning to cook it after I returned from the funeral, seeing it as a fitting goodbye dinner for myself as I left my childhood home for quite some time. I looked through Daddy's mail, setting aside the bills that needed to be taken care of, and sighing at the fact that I would have to have all the electricity turned off here. Drew was going to take care of the animals for me, and he was already looking for buyers on the horses. I felt relieved that I didn't have to worry about that, I didn't know how much more I could take on my mind, it felt stretched to a snapping point, and the only thing keeping me grounded was Alice.

Rosalie had poked her head into the kitchen while I was cleaning it, Alice sitting up on the counter next to me to trash the thing I handed her, and informed us that Jasper and Emmett would be accompanying Kate down here. It hit me at that moment that Rose had been away from Emmett for a few days, and I didn't understand how; I couldn't be away from Alice, not anymore. When I asked Alice about this, she smiled and admitted that Rosalie had followed us to South Carolina on foot not long after we had left, fueled by a feeling that something wasn't right. Alice was her baby, and Rose wouldn't let something happen that could hurt her. As it was, Rosalie ran up on me with a pistol down my throat, so she went off the handle, but then recovered when she found out that I indeed wanted to be with Alice forever; she had thought it was ludicrous that I once intended to live a very human life. Hence, her attitude change towards me.

At nine thirty the morning of Daddy's service, I found myself nearly catatonic as I took a shower and listened to Alice hum as she set up the bathroom with all sorts of girly things to make me pretty. I zoned out on the trepidation of meeting Kate, feeling my heart beat accelerate, and my throat go dry. What do you say to the woman with whom your father adulterated? How do you maintain a civil composure with a woman who may have inadvertly caused his alcoholism, which resulted in his early death? No, I couldn't blame Daddy's poor choices on this mysterious Kate. He was a grown man, and he made his own decisions. I just really wish he hadn't made that one.

The walk across the parking lot an hour later felt like I was trekking through knee-deep mud. Alice had forced me into heels yet again, refusing the Converse I'd wanted to wear with the ridiculous skirt she dressed me in, deaf to my pleas and protests, and the four inch heels were not aiding me in my quest to keep from falling down before I even made it inside. The lack of sleep wasn't affecting me at all, I still felt like I could never close my eyes again, what with the thorny tangle of nerves twisting in on itself in my gut. I still couldn't decide what made me more nervous: the funeral itself, or meeting my father's mistress. Alice was perfect, as usual, letting me lean into her solid form for support, and Rosalie was an angel that morning, which made me even more nervous, truth be told. I couldn't wait until she felt comfortable enough to be a bitch to me again, because this doting sister-in-law thing felt unnatural.

"There's Jasper, Emmett, and Kate," Alice said softly, and my eyes reluctantly shifted to follow her gaze over to three deities emerging from a black Mercedes, Emmett in the driver's seat and Jasper exiting passenger side front. The tall blonde coming from the back seat made my breath catch in my chest, and she heard it; Kate's yellow eyes locked onto my blue ones, and she gave a tiny, sad smile.

It was a relief to see Jazz, looking impeccable in his three piece suit and tie, and Emmett, tugging on the collar of his dress shirt uncomfortably. Kate looked like a cover girl for _Vogue_ in her strapless black dress, and before I knew it, Alice steered me towards the group of newcomers. Before I could be introduced to my father's obsession, Jasper pulled me into his lanky form and closed his arms around me. "I'm so sorry, Andie," he whispered as he held me. "It'll be okay, though. We're going to take care of you."

I felt a reassuring calm wash over me, making me smile for Jasper's efforts with his empathic gift. As long as I kept my favorite brother near, I shouldn't have a breakdown or a temper tantrum with Kate. As soon as Jasper released me, Emmett swept me into a bear hug, making me grin again. I hardly knew the guy, but he was already my big brother in so many ways. Perhaps it was a gift of his own, the ability to accept people and love them regardless. He set me down into Alice's embrace, and she gently turned me around to face Kate for the first introduction. Kate looked almost as nervous as I felt, and somewhere–_deep, _deep down– I felt a pang of sympathy for this vampire standing before me. "Andie, this is my cousin, Kate Denali. Kate, this is my mate, my Andie," Alice said with a hint of pride in her voice, and I blushed automatically.

Kate held out a hand for me to shake, and I stared at it for a second, then hesitantly took it for a brief moment. "You've grown into a beautiful young lady," Kate said gently, her eyes taking me in from head to toe. "Thank you for allowing me to come, Andie. I know you might not believe me when I say this, but your father meant a lot to me, for a long time."

"He still loved you," I blurted out, my face growing darker. "He would have wanted you here." Alice's arm squeezed my waist, and I leaned into her again, and she kissed my temple. I didn't know what else to say to her, and Rosalie saved me the effort of trying.

"Are you ready?" she asked me quietly, placing a slender hand on my shoulder.

"As ready as I can be to put my father in the ground," I replied dryly, and she patted my shoulder.

The six of us made our way to the brick monster, Alice on my right and Rosalie on my left, and I took a deep breath before Jasper opened the door to allow us to pass, Emmett making a face at his brother for his manners. "Will you guys sit with me?" I asked in a small voice, my nerves getting the better of me again, and Jasper sent another wave of calm to me.

"If you want us to," he said, and I nodded.

"You, too, Kate," I added. I felt like she deserved it. "You sit by me."

"Of course, it would be an honor," she said in barely more than a whisper.

The ushers outside the door to the chapel took our coats, and stared at Alice, Rose, and Kate like they'd never seen a female before, but Emmett's glare at one of them was enough to force the young man to tear his eyes away from Rosalie's rear as we passed into the room where my father lay in front. I shot the other one a look as he eyed Alice, and slid my hand down over her butt, making her slap at my arm playfully, but I just shrugged. He needed to know what he was fantasizing about was _mine_. I stopped half way up the aisle and leaned in Alice's ear. "I'm going to walk up with Kate to see him; and I'm sorry, please don't take this wrong way, but I need you to kiss me right now." I couldn't explain it. I just knew these guys staring at my mate needed to be clear, and maybe the butt-touching wasn't enough.

Alice chuckled, brushing her nose against mine, then kissing me sweetly. I melted, all thoughts of the ushers gone, and only came to when she pulled back and pushed me towards Kate a little. "Go on, now, stop being a jealous mate. I'm yours, and they know it. I'll be waiting for you in the pew," she whispered, and I nodded, offering an arm to Kate, who took it with a smile.

"Thank you for really coming," I said as we ventured further slowly, and alone.

"I had to," she replied quietly, coming to a halt before we reached Daddy's casket. "Ever met a vampire who has to steel themselves for something unlpleasant?" she asked in a weak way, trying to joke.

"Yes," I replied seriously, keeping a straight face. "Alice, every time she tells me something she knows I don't want to hear." That got a good chuckle out of all of them, and an adorable eye roll from Alice herself. "Come on, Kate," I encouraged her, digging deep for strength for both of us to keep us both composed. "We're in this together."

She closed her eyes and opened them, determination set like stone in the golden hues, her vampirically perfect mouth set in a straight line. "You're right," she replied. "Let's do it."

I took her hand in mine and led her up to Daddy's open casket, and she gave a dry sob when her eyes fell on his waxen features, and she let go of my hand to place it on his cheek. "Thomas," she breathed, and I blushed with a feeling like I was witnessing a very intimate act. "He looks very handsome," she said a minute later. "Did you pick out the suit?"

I shook my head. "Alice and Rose picked it out, and I approved it," I told her, my voice thick with emotion. "They did very well." I took my glasses off to wipe away the tears that were beginning to fall.

"You look just like him, you know," Kate whispered, not taking her eyes from my daddy. "How ironic that you will be in my life, and the man I once thought to be my mate will not."

I looked up at her, my eyes wide. "You thought he was your mate?"

She nodded. "I believed he was until Garrett wandered into my life three years ago. I only ever left him because he had you. I couldn't take your father from you, and he would never have changed for me... I left because it hurt too much, I loved you both so much. You two were my family... did he ever tell you that I used to sing lullabies to you when you slept?"

I shook my head. "No. He told me you were a big help when Mama died, but he never elaborated. And I have no memory of you, so I didn't think you were around me too much."

Kate smiled at me, tucking a loose hair behind my ear. "I only ever got to watch you sleep. I loved you like you were my little girl, though... and I still do. I've checked in on you twice since I left him, and I was proud you were going somewhere... Who would have thought you were Alice's mate?" She laughed a sad laugh, shaking her head. "Who would have imagined that it was you who was destined to be like me, the mother you never knew?"

I sobbed a little, and threw my arms around Kate, the apprehension gone, and replaced with a bond. "I'm so glad you can't die," I cried, and she held me, rocking me back and forth.

"Hey, calm down, now. I'll always be just a phone call away, and we have eternity to get to know each other." She kissed the top of my head, and I thought I heard a hiss, to which Kate muttered, "Chill out, Alice, sheesh, she's like my kid."

I couldn't help but giggle at that. Then I released Kate, and wiped my eyes, looking back down at Daddy. I noticed a bulge in his jacket, and reached down to see what it was. I found his eye glasses folded and neatly tucked away in a breast pocket of the suit, and it made me smile to think about how, like me, he could never seem to get them to stay in place. "I'm going to keep these, I think," I murmured to Kate, and she nodded.

"You should. He's had that same pair for years," she sighed, shaking her head at my father's scrupulous nature.

I heard distant voices becoming clearer as they entered the lobby, and I glanced over my shoulder to see they were giving their coats to the ushers. "Excuse me, Kate," I said distractedly. "I think I'm going to sit down before I'm attacked with sympathy." She nodded, but made no movement to follow me, her eyes back on Daddy.

I took my place next to Alice, who draped an arm around my shoulders, and I buried my face in her neck so no one would catch my eye and try to come talk to me. "Please tell me this will work," I whined to Alice, hearing the place fill up around me.

"For everyone but Drew and his father, yes. They won't catch you until after the service, though, so you're safe for now." She kissed the top of my head affectionately, burying her face in my hair, leaving me to believe Drew was probably close, as she went into Mate Mode whenever his scent hit her nostrils. I didn't care, and in fact I pressed my lips to the side of her neck in response, making her purr slightly, and I chuckled.

"Better not let anyone hear that," I teased her. "And you call me a jealous mate."

"Well, you have history with him. He brings it out in me like I've never felt before. It's all I can do to not have sex with you in front of him," she griped, making me shake with silent giggles. Someone seeing it from afar would think it was sobs.

A second later I heard Rose give a characteristic scoff, and I asked her what was wrong, without lifting my face from Alice's neck. "Humans. Always have to whisper about us, and the best these people can come up with is that we've all had cosmetic alterations," she answered quietly so only our group could hear.

I felt something inside me shift. "Alice, are they looking at you?"

"Yes," she answered honestly. "Some of the boys seem to think that they could get a shot, if you were far enough away from me."

I growled, fighting an urge to give the room a death stare before tongue kissing my Alice in front of everyone.

"Okay, you're indecisive, Andie, but too close to dry humping me at your father's funeral. Focus, please, push the instinct down," she instructed flatly, and I swallowed hard, my arm sliding across her abdomen and pulling her closer.

"They need to know you're mine," I argued, and she chuckled.

"I hate it for anyone that approaches me once you're immortal," she told me jokingly, but I scoffed.

"Me too," I agreed seriously. "I don't know about repeating high school and college over and over. Teenagers and hormones and you being some jock's fantasy doesn't settle well with me."

"I'll be dealing with the same thing," she replied. "I'll tell you what I've seen: you're going to be one hell of a knock out as an immortal, Andie."

"Psh," I said, shaking my head. "If you say so."

"I know so," Alice corrected me. "On the first day of every school year, I'm going to have to give you a very heart felt kiss to ward off hormonal boys and girls."

"I think Alice is right," Emmett piped up from somewhere to my left. "I think you'll be smokin' hot, Andie." I heard a sharp slap, and Emmett gasp. "Sorry, babe," he muttered to Rosalie, but it made me giggle a little bit, anyway.

"Let me know when it's about to start, please?" I asked Alice, who hummed an affirmative answer.

I felt Kate sit beside me a moment later, and Alice reached for my daddy's glasses, taking them from my grip gently. "I'm going to put these in my purse for you, baby," she said lovingly, and I knew it was almost time.

"Okay," I said softly, and not two minutes later Alice gave me a slight nudge, and I raised my face from her neck to straighten myself up. The organist began the opening notes to "Amazing Grace", and I sighed heavily, noting that this was it. The final goodbye.

There was a man standing over my father next, his bowed in spoken prayer, and I realized my head should be bowed as well, but by the time I registered this, he was finished and was beginning to talk about scripture. I lost myself in my head, thinking about how Daddy used to laugh about how funerals were made into excuses for people to be saved, how people used the death of a loved one as a tool to force decisions on people that were vunerable and impressionable. I remembered having that conversation on a boat with fishing poles in the water, and a beer in his hand. I loved fishing and hunting with Daddy, as much as I loved football games on the weekends in the fall and early winter, and plowing and planting the garden in the spring. I remembered how proud of me he was when I caught bigger fish than Drew, and how my buck was prettier than his own, making him joke that I was the one that taught him everything he knew about hunting.

I missed my Daddy, I would always miss him. But I took comfort in knowing that he loved me, knew what was best for me, and had left me in capable hands. I looked over at Alice now, and she turned her gaze to me, and I felt more ready to be with her, to change for her, than I ever had.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer (yes another random one): I own nothing Twilight. I just really like to play with it. Andie belongs to me, however, along with whatever other OCs I create.**

**A/N: The updates may be getting further between after this chapter, as I am really into The Hogwarts Few as of right now. But never fear, I will continue this story to see it through... and I'm 90% sure there will be a sequel... If I wrote one, would you guys read it?**

**AlicePOV:**

It was New Year's Eve, and Andie and I were back in the snow and ice covered city, packing her belongings in her apartment. She had confessed to me on our drive back that she had no desire to continue on with her routine she once loved so dearly; she saw no point, knowing now that she belonged to me. I wish I could be chivalrous and selfless and say that I had argued with her, that I had tried to convince her to play human for a little longer, but the truth is I was ecstatic that she was going to be next to me full time. She called it her New Year's resolution: to break away from her habits and just be my Andie. I did feel guilty about the possessiveness of keeping her attached to me, but she honestly didn't mind, and was beginning to show the signs of being mated, as well, though still fully human. I had a vague suspicion that it had something to do with the morning she had taken my virginity... her jealousy had taken a whole new turn after it had happened. The first sign was when she took me as forcefully as she did, the day her father passed. I'd never seen that side of Andrea, never felt her ownership of me more than the way she went about playing my body with a ferociousness that matched the power chords of the music she was so addicted to. She would be a force to be reckoned with, once she was immortal. The second sign was at the funeral when she actually _growled_ at the thought of people thinking sexual thoughts about me. She would have to just accept that, it came with the territory of being a vampire; our looks attract our prey. The third sign was her decision to leave school and work, to be with me. I had the feeling that if I had even hinted that she continue her life away from me that she would have snapped on me, and I couldn't have that, we all know how I feel about Andie being disgruntled with me in any way.

So I happily helped her load every book she owned into these cardboard boxes, appreciating the view as Andie stood on her step ladder to reach the ones on the top shelf of one of her seven bookcases. I couldn't help but stare at the strip of skin that revealed itself above her jeans when she stretched to reach the next book she would hand down to me, venom pooling in my mouth when I got a flash of kissing her bare back later that evening. She was singing along to the iTunes playing from her open laptop lying on the coffee table in front of the couch behind us, and I couldn't help but grin at the sound. She didn't have a conventionally beautiful voice, per se, but the sound of her voice gave me chills in general. The song wasn't her main taste of music (stuff you could only scream along to), but it was soft love song by a lady called Missy Higgins, "All For Believing"... I was quickly beginning to love the song, as every time Andie sang the title line, she would look back at me with a wink, catching me staring appreciatively at her rear more than once. She made me wildly happy.

It was nearly dark when we decided that we'd had enough packing for a day, as we had packed the entire living room, and the kitchen utensils and dishes. We would tackle the bathroom and her bedroom tomorrow, we said as we settled in on the couch and waited for Andie's cheese pizza to arrive, flipping through channels to find something to watch. I had suggested we go out for a New Year's party, but Andie made a face and told me she'd rather spend it inside, alone with me. I could live with that, I'd told her, making her face light up with a smile. I'd only wanted to take her out dancing, anyway, and we would have plenty of other times we could do that.

She had accepted Thomas's death more easily than I could have hoped, and when I pointed this out to her she'd had an explanation ready. "He knew he was dying, Alice," she had said to me in the car on the way back to her apartment from South Carolina. "If I've ever trusted anyone in my life before you came along, it was him. I feel like it was meant to happen this way, that he only fought long enough to see that I would be okay, and he knew I was fine when he accepted you... I know you didn't miss that he gave you my hand." She was right, the gesture had touched my dead heart, as much as his words that he wished he could walk her to me on our wedding day. "Everything I've done, everything I've learned, everywhere I've been has led me to you. I've always known Daddy was going to go first... I just can't believe I was lucky enough to not have to deal with it alone. I was meant for this life I plan to have with you, forever; I wasn't meant for the next life, like he was... And having Kate in my life now, well... it's like an extension of him, she comforts the orphan in me, you know?" She was so strong, so intelligent, so... _Andie_.

I was thinking about that conversation when she looked over at me with that sideways look I loved so much, her head cocking to one side as she turned to look at me fully, that grin tugging up one corner of the lips I thought of kissing constantly. "What're you looking at? Take a picture, Alice, it lasts longer," she teased me, reaching out to tug at my messy hair playfully.

I caught her hand before she could pull it back beside her, kissing the palm and then lacing my fingers through hers. "I was just thinking about how perfect you are," I told her honestly, watching that red tint crawl up her neck to her cheeks, flooding my nose with the smell of her delicacy, and feeling my stomach flip when she smiled shyly, ducking her face behind the curtain of her long dark hair. I let go of her hand to reach up and tuck that cover away behind her ear, making the blush deepen. "Don't hide from me, silly girl," I whispered, and she gave me that sideways look again. "I love that I can make you blush like that."

She slid over until she flush next to me, and I put my arms around her, bringing her into my lap, tucking the top of her head beneath my chin, and closing my eyes as I savored the light weight of her fragile human body in my arms, all warm and squishy...

"Will you miss it?" she whispered from where she nuzzled the hollow of my throat, pressing her lips to it. "My humanity, I mean?"

I smiled at the slight edge of fear in her tiny voice. "Well, most of the things I love most about you will carry over into immortality... the things that make you who you are. The only things I'll miss about you being human are your blush and your heart beat... I listen to it when you sleep, it relaxes me."

Andie chuckled, pulling back to look me in the eyes. "Well, you won't have to worry about relaxing while I'm sleeping, anymore, as I won't be sleeping... you'll be stuck with me for twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year." She kissed me and I sighed in happiness that she was absolutely right. We made out like teenagers on the couch for a minute, then I felt myself being pulled away, no matter how I tried to fight the haze overtaking my body and mind... _Andie rolled over on top of me, her hands dragging down my sides, but she stopped when there came a pounding on the door. "Fuck, are you serious?" she groaned, her face falling in my neck._

_"Go on," I told her teasingly, pushing on her just a bit. "Go get rid of them and come back to me..."_

_She pressed her lips to mine before pushing herself off of me and snatching up her long flannel shirt and her boxers. The knocking came again, more insistently, and she growled as she buttoned the buttons in the middle to cover her beautiful breasts, which were still swollen with the want of my hands, the need of my mouth. "I'm coming!" she snapped through her open bedroom door, looking back at me lying in her bed in nothing but her sheets. "I'm sorry, I'll be quick." One more kiss and she fled out to yell at whomever interrupted us._

_I listened intently, curious about who it could be. When I heard the door open and Andie's gasp, I froze as the next voice reached my ears from Andie's bed. "Didn't expect to see me, did you?"_

I came out of my vision to Andie's amethyst eyes narrowed in concern, and she had straddled me in our kissing a moment before, so they were close. "What did you see?" she asked huskily, obviously ready to go on with our activities, but I knew my vision was about to come to seed any minute now... that make out session would have ended up in the situation we were creating in my vision. "You've got company coming, and I'm not sure I need to be here when she arrives," I said bitterly, my Mate Mode kicking in, but I swallowed the jealousy back. Andie was mine, not hers, not anymore.

"Who?" Andie asked curiously, sliding off my lap, but not moving any further.

"Daphne is on her way here," I answered, and I watched Andie's face grow slack with the shock.

"What does she want?" She shook off the shock and it was replaced by a bitter anger, and I felt it had more to do with the interruption than the fact that her ex was showing her face here after longer than a year.

I shrugged, not really caring what she wanted, but still trying to shove down the urges to meet her in the hall and break her neck before she even reached her dirty fist up to knock on my mate's door. Andie saw the tightening of my eyes, and my clenched jaw, and sighed, her own anger melting to fend off mine. "Baby, look at me," she said softly, and my eyes involuntarily shifted to meet hers again, and she smiled a tiny smile. "It doesn't matter what she wants, you know," Andie said gently. "I don't care what she has to say, either, because I could care less about Daphne and her hang ups." She leaned over and pressed her lips to my jaw, then started a trail down to my chin, and ended on my lips. "You're the one who is going to be lying next to me tonight, tomorrow night, the night after, and every night for eternity, long after Daphne is a vague memory for both of us," she whispered against my mouth, and I had no control when the vampire in me kissed her again, possessively. Andie was my monster's number one priority, it was the one thing we had agreed on in my existence.

I thought for a brief minute that we were going to end up in bed despite the vision, but that knock came before I could twitch a muscle to pick Andie up and carry her to her room. I felt the snarl roll in my chest, and Andie whimpered against my lips as she reluctantly pulled back from them. "Is it wrong for me to find that part of you irresistably sexy?" She nipped at my bottom lip, and I kissed her again, her words running like lightning to my core, wishing with all my might that I could snap Daphne's little pencil neck when she banged on the door again. My snarl rose in volume.

"Alice, reel it in just for a bit," Andie panted as she tried to get up for the door, but Mate Mode wasn't having it, tightening my arms around her waist, holding her to me. "I swear, you can snarl, growl, and hiss all you want later, you have all night to fuck me stupid and make me yours, but I have to get rid of her first."

I loved it when she talked to me like that. It meant it was time to play. But she was right; I had to gain some control before Andie opened that door and I killed a human girl for interrupting our mating, so I let go of her waist and tried to breathe air that wasn't full of Andie's arousal and her blood pumping like liquid candy. She got to her feet to answer the incessant knocking, but not before grabbing a handful of my hair and tugging my face to hers for one last hard kiss, a promise for that I would have what I wanted later. I shivered as she let me go, and fell back on the couch, dizzy and trying to grasp my personality best I could. It was always harder when she came at me like a mate should: fast and possessive.

"I'm coming, quit breaking my fucking door down," she snapped as she opened it, and Daphne's scent floated into the apartment, diluting the scent Andie and I had left lingering. It helped clear my mind further at first, then I realized whose scent was permeating my mate's space, and Mate Mode kicked back in, only on protective levels know, instead of sexual.

"Didn't expect to see me, did you?" came that cocky drawl from behind me, and I swallowed the venom rising. God, this was hard. This was worse than Drew.

"Actually, I had a feeling it might be you," Andie said, undaunted by Daphne's presence, making my vampire purr with satisfaction. "I could smell nasty coming up the stairs," she went on, and her tone surprised me so much that I almost snapped completely out of Mate Mode. Almost.

"Play nice, Andrea," Daphne said, and I could hear her smirk. "I'm not here to fight with you."

"Then why _are_ you here, Daphne?"

I heard the swish of Daphne's clothing as she moved past Andie into the apartment uninvited, and heard her gasp so low that Andie might have missed it. "You're moving?" Daphne was so surprised that the bitchy holier-than-thou tone dropped from her voice.

"Yes," was all Andie said.

"Where? Somewhere on campus? Can you not pay rent or something?"

"Rent is paid up until February. I plan to be long gone before then, though. And no, not anywhere on campus... I withdrew from school last Friday," Andie said coolly, and I fought the urge to pop up from the couch and run to stand beside her.

Daphne was silent for the first time in her lamentable existence, then she whispered, "Is it because of me?"

Ugh. Arrogant, and vain. I'd always hated the girl.

"No, it's not because of you, Daphne," Andie replied scathingly. "Believe it or not, you're not the first thing on my mind when I wake up anymore."

"Oh, I believe it," Daphne said silkily, and I didn't need to be psychic to know what was coming. "You're still stuck so far up Alice Cullen's ass you can't see what you had in me!"

"And what, exactly, was that?" I said, unable to remain silent anymore after that comment. I got to my feet and rounded the sofa, Daphne's eyes about to pop out of her skull at the sight of me. "A nagging, oppressive, whiny, money-grubbing, two-timing _slut_?" I knew Daphne had cheated on Andie– numerous times.

"Alice," Andie said warningly, and I held a hand up to silence her as Daphne's jaw flapped up and down for some sort of response.

"No, baby," I said, watching Daphne's eyes widen at the endearing term with which I referred to Andie. She hadn't expected someone as beautiful as me to give nerdy, geeky Andie the time of day... She didn't leave Andie because of me... she left because she couldn't stand that she wasn't the one with me every day. "I want this bitch to tell me what you're missing out on, what she could have given you that I obviously _can't_. I want her to stand there and tell me that she left because she thought I was sleeping with you when you belonged to her, and I want her to lie and tell me she's not burning with jealousy that you're the one getting to fuck me now, and she's not." There, I'd told Andie the truth, while Daphne burned red at the accuracy of my words.

Daphne looked at Andie like a deer caught in my teeth, stuttering. "I never– she– you're so– what the FUCK?" Daphne's anger overpowered her shock, and she whipped her face back to look at me, bound to take it out on me, since I was the one that revealed her true motives, and her attraction to me. She whipped her blonde hair over one shoulder and pointed a finger at me. "You don't know what you're talking about, I can't _stand_ you, how could I have ever wanted to–"

"You still want to fuck me," I taunted her, and Andie took a step back from me, as my anger was mounting as well. "You think I don't know how you and all your friends whisper behind my back? You think I've never heard you tell your buddy Josh that you'd tear me to pieces and then mail the pictures to Andie when we ran away together? Just out of spite that Andie was falling for me, _really falling in love with me_, and not my face or my body, and the fact you saw how I looked at her? That you saw I was already _in love_ with your girlfriend, the one you tossed about like a flippant joke? Go fuck yourself, Daphne, while I go make love to my fiancee. Get the fuck out of her apartment."

Andie stared with unbelieving eyes as Daphne whipped around in a wave of bottled blonde, rushing to the door. She looked back at Andie with a poisonous look. "Send me pictures from the wedding, Andrea," she sneered. "If it's even true... how could a _geek_ like you keep the interest of a bombshell like Alice?"

I couldn't help it. I gave a loud snarl at her words, making Daphne's face turn bone white, and her heart stop in fear. I didn't care. No one spoke to my mate like that, not without a dire consequence, and as I bent my knees into a crouch, Andie was in front of me with her hands on my face, and her lips against mine... I knew this kiss, yes, this was right, it was my mate, and she was telling me it was okay to finish what we had earlier begun...

I was confused for a minute when her lips were gone, but then I heard her voice saying things to someone who wasn't me. "Don't ever come near us again, Daphne, I'll have you arrested, understand?"

"Whatever– just keep your freak away from me!" I looked up to see the door slam and then Andie led me back to the couch and pulled me down beside her, cradling my head against her chest, pressing my ear above her left breast so I could listen to her heart.

After a few moments, I sat up and looked at Andie, who was beaming at me, leaving me surprised. She just found out exactly how much of a waste of flesh her ex-girlfriend was, and she was smiling like that at me. "Thank you," she said, touching my face. "But I don't need you to start a murder spree over a bag of guts that can barely even speak English, and not even properly."

"I know," I chuckled, shaking my head. "But her tone sounded suggestive at first, like she just _knew_ you were going to take her back, like you really couldn't do better." Andie didn't respond, just ran her hands through my hair, getting two fists full and holding tightly to pull herself back across my lap.

"Where were we?" she whispered, getting right back down to business. I was proud of her for not letting Daphne's nonsense stick in her mind, but I couldn't tell her so, because she had my lips and tongue preoccupied as she grinded against my lap and pulled at my hair.

"I don't remember," I whispered back playfully, going along with her game by sliding my hands up her back, beneath her shirt.

"I think you said something about making love to your fiancee," she replied pointedly, pulling back to grin at me, then coming right back in for an intense kiss that made me lose breath I didn't even need.

"I think you're right," I laughed lowly, hitching her up on me by her bottom, and lifting her with me as I stood up and carried her to her room. I stripped her before I pushed her down to top her, and gave her another teasing kiss. "I seem to recall her telling me that I could snarl, growl, and hiss while I fucked her stupid and made her mine all night," I whispered to her, watching her eyes change into the same look she got in Mate Mode. It made me shiver, and she quivered beneath me.

"She's waiting," Andie replied impatiently, pulling my face down to hers.

It was going to be a _long_ night, and I couldn't wait.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight, only Andie and I reckon her story.**

**AlicePOV:**

I didn't think the drive would ever be over. I had endured screaming vocals and heavy guitar sequences for over 24 hours. I couldn't take it anymore, and I was secretly glad when Andie finally dropped off to sleep in the passenger seat of her Mustang, giving me full advantage of her iPod; I knew there was better music to listen to downloaded on the device. So I gave sigh of relief as my all time favorite band came over the speakers, and I drowned in the melodies of "Hey Jude" as it began.

We'd left Andie's now-vacant apartment five days after the incident with Daphne, who had blown Andie's phone up ever since. It greatly agitated me that this bitch actually thought she had a chance to take what is _mine_. Andie was lucky the phone had not gone off while we were in the car, I had already decided that if Daphne called again that I would be the one answering, to finish saying the things I didn't get to say the night she showed up at the apartment. I had a feeling Andie wouldn't be so pleased with it, but I knew she would forgive me... hence, why I was hoping the girl would ring her again.

I had my Bluetooth in my ear, talking to Bella, after Andie had passed out. Bella was over the moon that I was coming home, if it were only until May, when Andie and I would fly to one of our other homes in the world, for her to become a vampire. She refused to be a day over twenty-one, and wanted to be changed on her birthday, so she would be born into her next phase of life the same day she was brought into the world at all. I had no problems with her desire, that selfish part of me doing a little dance, one akin to Family Guy's "Prom Night Dumpster Baby" routine, minus the swinging of the umbilical cords.

"Is she nervous to be coming home to a house full of vampires she doesn't know?" Bella asked me as I drove along, and I glanced down at my sleeping mate, her fingers still loosely threaded through mine, even in slumber. It made me smile.

"She's like you were," I answered, grinning at the nostalgia. "She's more worried about what you guys will think of her."

Bella giggled. "I remember that... just barely. I thought Edward was being ridiculous, saying that his family would love me."

I laughed with her. "Well, that's what I'm getting from this adorable human here. You guys really are going to love her... she's amazing."

"The way you gush about her, I'm going to be offended if she's not," my best friend teased me. "And I've got a little test in mind for her, too."

"Test?" I hadn't seen anything of the sort in my vision of how things played out in Forks, where Bella and Edward still lived.

Bella hummed an affirmative answer. "You say she's as territorial over you as a vampire would be, right?" she asked, clarifying.

"Yes," I said uneasily, as the flash became clearer in my mind, and I gasped in shock. "Bella! Don't you dare! She's insecure enough as it is, she doesn't need you all over me!" I knew Andie would flip about it if Bella came out the door and pounced on me, kissing me full on the mouth. "We'd be locked in a room for a month, with Andie trying to wash away your scent with hers, and not that I mind the idea, but the girl has to eat and sleep."

Bella laughed at my worried tone, and she sighed as her laughter finally died out. "Okay, okay, you win. You take care of your little human. Just don't be petty when I flirt with you just to get a rise out of her for entertainment."

I cocked an eyebrow, even if she couldn't see me. "A rise out of Andie, or a rise out of _Edward_?" I said tauntingly, and she made a noise of indifference.

"I don't have to flirt with girls to get a rise out of Edward, trust me," she said with an air of satisfaction, and I gagged a little internally. Not a mental picture I wanted in my head. "OH! That reminds me, I want to tell you about this new thing we tried, it was fucking amazing! He lifted me–"

"Bellabellabella," I said in a rush to cut her off, not wishing to hear anymore about sex between them. "Andie's waking up, and I need to go so I can pay attention to the road." Bella scoffed.

"You're a horrible liar, Alice. But I love you, anyway. I'll see you in a few hours, be safe."

**

* * *

****AndiePOV:**

I was stiff in my neck when I woke up on Alice's arm, not knowing how long I'd been out. I turned it slowly to work out the kinks, and looked around at the scenery. It was all... white, gray, and green. Green, in January? Oh, yeah, the evergreens. We must be in Washington now. Alice turned her face to kiss the top of my head, and I yawned, turning my face to kiss her jaw. "Where are we?" I asked disorientedly, having a flashback from the ride down to South Carolina. This ride had been much more pleasant, as I didn't wake up unknowingly in another state, and I wasn't bleeding, that was a major plus.

"About thirty miles outside of Forks," Alice answered, bouncing in her seat just a little. "We'll be at my house in less than ten minutes." I looked at my speedometer as my mate drove my car. One-forty. Christ.

"Have you been maxing out my poor transmission the entire ride?" My eyes shifted over to the RPM, seeing its needle lying in the 5000 range.

"It's okay," Alice said dismissively. "If it's stripped out, I'll just buy you another one and have Rose put it in. She loves your Mustang, she's been itching to get under the hood of it since she laid eyes on it a few weeks ago."

The knowledge that Rosalie liked my car made me beam with pride, and I realized it didn't shock me as it should that a pretty girl like Rosalie would be into mechanics. It just seemed to fit her personality somehow. And I had noticed the way her eyes lit up just a bit when Alice and I had taken her and Emmett to the airport a couple weeks before, but I was so saddened by their departure that I had not realized it was my car that made her look so serene; I figured Emmett had been whispering sweet nothings in her ear or something. "Are Emmett and Rose going to be at the house when we get there?" I asked, sitting up and straightening my glasses on my face.

"Yes," Alice said, giving me a look, but I saw the amusement in her dark eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"I miss them," I answered, not skipping a beat. It was true. I missed them both horribly, almost as much as I would miss Jasper, who had remained at school for the rest of the semester, before joining me and Alice wherever she had picked for me to be changed. Jasper's experience with newborns would help Alice keep me under control.

"They miss you, too," Alice assured me, one dimple caving in. "Rosalie is having a stroke waiting on us to get there... I wonder if I might have some competition for your affections," she went on jokingly, and I automatically placed a lingering kiss on the side of her mouth.

"In her dreams," I replied in Alice's ear, tracing the outer cup with my tongue. I felt that familiar heat balling up in my gut, and I pulled away before I made Alice pull over right outside of the town to take her to my backseat, and I saw Alice give a little shimmy in the driver's seat from my implication.

"I'm excited for you to finally meet the rest of my family," Alice said, changing the subject back to the people waiting for us, her mind in the gutter snuggled up next to mine. "But keep in mind what I've told you–"

"Your family is unlike any I've ever seen," I finished the mantra she had given me over the past few days, when we decided we were going to move to Forks for the time being.

"Well... yes. And don't be scared, love, none of them will hurt you... if they value their lives," she breathed, turning down a tree-lined road. "Okay, well, here it is... the house is at the end of this driveway here."

"How long is this driveway?" I asked a minute later, and Alice chuckled.

"Five miles," she answered simply with a shrug. "We like our privacy, and we like to be able to walk in the yard, even when the sun is shining."

"You still owe me," I reminded her. I still had not seen the effect of the sun on her skin she had told me about months before, the night that we became _us_.

"I know I do," she said agreeably, nodding her head, and I watched her spiky hair swish with the motion, fighting off the urge to grab handfuls and pull her from the beneath the steering wheel.

_God_, where did these urges come from? It's not like we never had sex, it was more like we _constantly_ had sex, especially after the first time she let me touch her; it had been completely _on_ from that point. I was almost afraid that if I was like this with her now, as a human, of what I would be like with her as a newborn vampire. Her words from that conversation came back to me: _Newborn vampires only think about two things: blood and sex. Their appetite for both are insatiable. _I'd never been a sex addict. Daphne would have probably stayed with me, had I been, and not fucked every girl in the apartment building and half the female population of our school. It was only Alice that invoked that animalistic part, the part I had no idea even existed before her. She was as bad as I, if not worse, with the advances; often in public, with her hand riding up my thigh much the way it was now, right when we were pulling up to the house at the end of the road.

I closed my hand on hers to stop it in its path upwards, squeezing my eyes shut and biting my lip. I had to regain some sort of control, I could feel something inside me stirring, and if I let it grow and take shape, we wouldn't be out of the car for a long time.

Alice shuddered as she also tried to clear her head, and she opened the door with a deep breath of the fresh air. I'm sure that she was suffocating in the scents we stirred. "Are you ready?" she asked me a few seconds later, allowing my heart to slow down from the reactions to her touch.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I breathed, looking out of my window at the expansive yard and the enormous structures that rested there. One was the house, which was seemingly older, but large for the age, and well built... it was beautiful. Then there was a garage, half the size of the house, but all the doors were shut, so I couldn't see what rested in its shelter. Alice's house. The first time. I was terrified, and my heart sped back up considerably as I reached for the door handle.

"Hey, it's going to be fine," Alice said, tapping her head as she often did to remind me that she was rarely wrong about something. "Rosalie adores you, and that's your toughest one. The rest of the family are big teddy bears, I promise."

I nodded and took a deep breath as I got out and shut the car door, seeing a blur come from the house and I heard Alice squeal behind me. I turned around and saw a dark haired beauty with her arms wrapped completely around my mate, swinging her around. There was a huge smile on this vampire's face, and I thought back to the pictures Alice had shown me of her family... this was Bella, the writer, her sister-in-law, and admittedly her best friend aside from me. This was the one she spoke about the most, a happy grin plastered on her face... should I be jealous? No, no. Her _best friend_. But I couldn't help but swallow a growl when her best friend reached down and pecked my mate's cheek, a little _too _affectionately for my liking. "I missed you, Alice," Bella said to her, and I swallowed again, fighting the feelings...

"You're killing my mate, Bella," Alice said, rolling her eyes and lightly smacking Bella's shoulder. "Put me down, you big goof." As soon as Bella placed her on her feet, Alice was by my side, weaving her arm through mine and locking our hands together. "Andie, this is my ridiculous best friend, Bella. Bells, this is everything I've told you about in the past two and a half years in the flesh, my Andie."

"Of course," Bella said smiling, and she took a stride forward with her hand outstretched. "Bella Cullen. Pleasure to finally meet you."

I took her hand, shaking it briefly. "Andie Fowler. Charmed." I meant it. Sort of. She was too close to Alice a second ago. I still didn't like that. Alice pressed her lips to my cheek, and that made me feel a smidgen better.

Bella shook her head with a chuckle. "Alice said you were possessive already. I don't blame you, though. If I had been into girls, Alice would've been the first one I'd have f–"

"Bella, so help me, if you finish that sentence, I will whip your ass all the way to the La Push animal shelter and back!" A familiar voice rang out from the porch to our left, and I looked to see Rosalie glaringly at Bella playfully, who merely stuck out her tongue at Rose. With a swish of perfect blonde hair, Rosalie was gone.

"Protective, Rose?" Bella murmured, and she smiled softly at what I was guessing was Rosalie's reply.

Alice also gave a smile that dented both her dimples, and I couldn't help but grin at that. I was a lovesick fool. The three of us made towards the house, and Alice gave my hand a reassuring squeeze, as I'm sure my heart sped up with every step we took. Her parents were in there, waiting to be introduced to me. The ultimate acceptance. Oh, dear God.

The first thing I noticed when I entered the house was the smell of food– human food. It was strong, telling me it was nearly finished cooking. I felt my stomach give a rumble, and I realized it had been a while since I'd last eaten. I blushed at the noise, remembering that they could probably hear that, and it was as if my appetite was inviting itself to dinner. The second thing I noticed was that there was a giant LCD television in the living room, and right then it was displaying my favorite Xbox game, which Emmett was playing enthusiastically, as foul-mouthed as I when playing it. The third thing I noticed was that the entire back wall of the house was glass, showing us the forest that lay beyond its borders, and there was a grand piano resting on a rise near the sliding door to the backyard. The fourth thing I noticed were the two vampires appearing from our right, around a corner that led into a dining room, set with a table and chairs and all. "Welcome," said the lady I knew to be Alice's mother, Esme.

"Hello," I said shyly, and Alice let go of my hand to wrap that arm around my waist and step forward with me.

"Carlisle, Esme, this is my Andie. Andie, these are my mentors, my counselors, my advisors, and my heroes. My parents, Carlisle and Esme."

Carlisle held out a hand, and I shook it, but Esme pulled me into a warm hug, surprising me for one so cold. Alice's hugs were warm like that, her kisses were, too... _NO_, I told myself sharply, keeping myself rooted to reality.

"Alice says wonderful things about you both. I'm thankful you allowed me to stay here," I said, blushing for several reasons, so it had to several shades dark. _Good one, Andie. Just let the blood flow right up in a house full of vampires. Sheesh, you got a way of making people uncomfortable. _

"It's nothing at all, dear," Esme said, and Carlisle nodded.

"You belong to my daughter, therefore you belong with this family," he added, giving me an understanding smile. He knew how I was feeling, being the only blushing human in the vicinity, and he was trying to tell me it was okay. Maybe for him... he was a doctor who cut people on a regular basis and abstained from going into a frenzy. He was like a self-restraint saint.

"I told you so," Alice muttered, elbowing me gently so she didn't shatter a rib or three.

"Shut up," I muttered back, giving her a grin and elbowing her back.

Her parents chuckles at us and our antics, and that brought me back to where I was, standing in Alice's house meeting her parents. When I shifted my gaze back to them, Esme gave a disarming smile, and made a motion over her shoulder from where they had appeared. "I've got some food on, a ton of garlic alfredo for you and the pack, it should be ready soon. I just have to pop the bread in the oven," she said sweetly, and I felt my heart melt at the motion of acceptance. Apparently they were used to humans, despite Rosalie's obvious aversion.

Carlisle smiled at his wife, and placed an affectionate kiss on her forehead. "I, unfortunately, have to go to the hospital. It's going to be a rough next four months, now that I've given my resignition," he sighed, looking at Alice and me. "It's time for us to move on, now that my age is being questioned... there is no way I can pass for forty, and that's about how old I should be by now."

"So you're moving away from here?" I asked, and he nodded, looking around the hall we stood in.

"Yes, for at least seventy or eighty years... long enough for the people here to have changed," he replied with a sigh. "I'm sure you'll get the chance to live here; we love this house."

I smiled softly at his subtle implication of my being with them in seventy or eighty years, it was very sweet. "I hope so," I replied, glancing at Alice, who was zoned out on a vision, probably trying to see if it would come to pass. When she came back with a satisfied smile, I knew it would.

"You girls have a good night, and try not to be too... exuberant. Andie needs her rest, Alice," he said pointedly, and Alice ducked her head. I swear her face would have been red if it were possible.

"She usually starts it," Alice muttered sullenly, pouting for being scolded.

"Look at it like you're the adult," he suggested with a wink, going out the front door and closing it behind him before Alice could scowl at him.

"He's right, Alice," Esme said gently, turning and walking back to the kitchen to finish her work.

I looked at my pouting mate. "Are we really _that_ bad?" I whispered to her, and she looked up at me without lifting her face, her mouth tugging up on one side.

"Your fingers are molesting mine, if you hadn't noticed," she said dryly, and I looked down to see my fingers indeed rubbing through hers suggestively. I stopped as soon as I saw, and pulled my hand back to myself, embarrassed.

"Sorry," I mumbled as she put a hand on the small of my back to lead me up the stairs. "I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

Alice gave a giggle. "I'm not in trouble. He was just reminding me that I should pay attention to your needs before your wants... sometimes I forget that, not having those needs, myself."

"I don't classify you as a _want_, Alice," I said flatly, and she smiled.

"Nor do I classify you in that category. But we really do need let you sleep some, from now on... it's not healthy for you to be getting two or three hours here and there... especially when you're in bed almost the entire time, anyway."

This was true. We'd go at it fifteen or sixteen hours a day on one of our good days, stopping only to let me eat and sleep, and both of us to shower... which technically didn't count as it was merely a change of venue. As I stated before, after I took her virginity, it was _on_.

"I'm not normal, I know," I groaned, covering my face with my hands as we stopped in front of a door.

"This is a case where we don't know what _normal_ is," she told me, pulling my hands away from my face and holding them down at my sides. "Sure, it's strange, but I think it has more to do with instinct. The only reason Bella didn't get as defensive as you are when she was human was because she and he were on an island away from everyone and everything, so she had no reason to be jealous when they first mated. And she spent the months after being pregnant. And then she was a vampire, so the instinct was expected of her, and it didn't seem as bad because she was a newborn."

"So, I'm strange because I've remained human even after we've started a very healthy sex life?" I asked, confused.

"Basically," Alice laughed, reaching for the doorknob. "Come on, let's get you settled in. Esme's sending Emmett up with your bags, and Edward will be here with Jacob and Nessie shortly to collect Bella."

She opened the door and allowed me to pass in front of her, stepping in behind me and closing the door with a faint snap as I looked around the room that had A-L-I-C-E written all over it. The walls were a pale yellow, accented in white, including the canopy bed that lay in the center of the large room, which I was sure would match my old apartment foot by foot. The floor was hardwood, but had fluffy white shag carpets placed in a strategic manner across it, and she had a gorgeous white vanity set in a far corner near what looked like an old-fashioned ventrilo on a white peg table, with several vinyls lined up neatly beside it. On the shelf below it sat a record player, bigger vinyls set in order beside it, and finally my eyes crossed over a huge stereo system with floor speakers and a surround sound set up. The wall of CDs past that could only be rivaled by the wall of books that faced it, on this side of the bed, or the wall of DVDs on the wall in front of it, where her sizeable LCD was mounted. Above the wrought iron headboard of her bedframe, hung a yellow Fender Stratocaster with a white pick guard that had several scribblings on it, and a painting of the Beatles below it, done Warhol style but with hues of yellow and white instead of the blues and pinks and purples and bright colors that marked Andy Warhol. I knew Alice "dabbled" in art, as she once put it to me, and I looked at her as she gazed around with me, pointing at the painting.

"You do that?"

She nodded, her eyes resting on the picture. "I painted that January 20, 1964, the day that _Meet the Beatles_ was released in the States. It hit number one on _Billboard_, and stayed there for eleven weeks. It's my favorite album of all time... and I love music," she added with a sly grin.

"What's your favorite Beatles song?" I asked her, pulling her over to her record player, where I knew without asking that she had their albums, probably in chronological order. "Don't tell me, show me," I told her, when she opened her mouth to speak.

"Okay." She shrugged as she went into the stacks, flipping through them so fast I couldn't get a look at a single one of the covers. A second later, she was placing the needle onto a record that was spinning on the plate, and the opening notes of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" came over the floor speakers and the surround sound. I felt myself smile. She was such a romantic soul, and this just proved it. Alice grinned back at me, holding out a hand for me to take in a dance, and I blushed, shaking my head. She rolled her eyes, which I noticed were darker, and pulled me in anyway. "You wanted me to play it, you have to deal with the consequence," she said in a sing-song tone as she twirled with me, making me laugh despite myself.

She continued dancing us around in a playful circle, matching the upbeat song, singing the words to me in a chiming voice, even if I knew she was goofing off, I loved it. I loved her. I loved that she was a Beatles nut. I loved that she was obsessed with yellow and white, such happy, bright, innocent colors, the colors that made Alice up in a scheme, made better only by the fringe of the love of the arts and music. God, she was beautiful, enchanting me as we whirled, her eyes bright despite the dark irises that meant she thirsted; she smiled over the discomfort, and it was genuine, not forced. As the song ended, I brought my face to hers for a kiss, unable to refrain any longer from it, and she returned it eagerly for a moment, until I heard the knocking on the door and we jumped away from each other like teenagers being caught. I smiled sheepishly as she turned off the music and called an entrance for the knocker, and Emmett poked his head in, eyebrows raised expectantly. "Anything going on? Did I interrupt?" His tone was light and hopeful, and Alice rolled her eyes again, chuckling weakly.

"No, Emmett, you did not, and will not," Alice told him pointedly, her eyes sliding down to his crotch. "Remember what I said would happen if you try to catch us?"

Emmett winced, and his legs crossed a little. "Sorry, um, Andie... your bags are out here," he mumbled distractedly, looking over his shoulder as if he really wanted to get away from Alice at that moment.

I laughed, shaking my head. "Okay, I'll get them. Thank you, Em."

"No problem. Oh, and Esme said dinner's ready. The pack is here, too. All of them in Jake's bunch," he told Alice, with a significant look.

"Oh, joy, Leah," Alice muttered, and Emmett gave a slow nod in agreement. "Is Edward and Nessie here, too?"

"Were you too caught up to pay attention or something?" Emmett's eyes got a little excited, and Alice pushed him out of the room, slamming the door before leaning against it, and touching her forehead.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, moving towards her.

She nodded, but allowed me to pull her into my arms regardless, snuggling her face into the crook of my neck. "The pack makes my visions weird... I don't get them. I'm not used to the sensation, anymore, nor their smell... Emmett left this door open too long, and now it's all I can pick up in the air." She gave a long sniff at my jugular vein, and I shuddered pleasurably, my arms pulling her in closer.

"We can stay up here..." I let my suggestion ring on the air, and she chuckled in my neck, pressing her lips up the pounding vein there, traveling all the way to my ear.

"See? That's what Carlisle meant," she whispered, pulling my hips into hers, nudging her tongue against the lobe. "Always having each other before actual sustenance."

Contradicting her words, her actions were more along the line of staying up in her room, but after a few minutes of kissing that led to me trying to get her out of clothes, she pushed me away a little, planting a chaste kiss on my lips. "Go eat, Bella will introduce you to her friends, and I'm going on a quick hunt... I need to eat, too, before we get too carried away in here. I'll meet you back up here for a shower in two hours," she whispered, her eyes taking in mine in deep draws, and I could feel the connection of our souls as we tried to pull each other in and tried to pull away at the same time. The constant longing to remain, and the necessity of separation.

"Okay," I replied, clearing my throat. "I have to get my bags in here–" I broke off as Alice opened the door and swept out and back in less than a blink, my bags set up in front of a white bureau.

"That's yours, until I can clean out a closet space for you. We'll be going shopping soon for you, and we'll need the closet space, so I'll get that done tonight while you're sleeping." She held her hand out for me to take, and we went back down stairs together, only around into the dining room and kitchen area, where there was a horde of shirtless boys gathered around the island in the middle of the kitchen, all elbowing and fighting and growling at each other. "Well, they haven't changed a bit," Alice sighed, crossing her arms and leaning against the door frame to watch them wrestle over the food.

One of the bigger ones, and I say _bigger_ because they were all huge, turned and looked at Alice standing there, and then his brown eyes shifted to me and widened. "Alice- you mate is a girl?" he asked in high pitched tone of surprise.

"Yep," was all she said, grinning like crazy at me, and I couldn't help the blush that rose up my neck.

The boy looked back from Alice to me, and held out the hand that wasn't clutching a plate piled high with pasta. "Hi, I'm Quil Ateara, you can call me 'Runs With Three Legs'." And he burst into laughter at his own joke, and I shook his hand. When he saw I didn't laugh, he went on. "You know, because I'm an Indian... 'Runs With Three Legs'... means I have a huge-"

"_Quil!_" I heard a deep voice bark from the other side of the gaggle of tan backs and chests. "That's Alice's imprint, yo. Don't say stuff like that."

"Chill out, Seth, I'm just joking, dude... Sheesh," he muttered, looking at Alice apologetically. "I'm sorry, Flea."

The one that had called out stepped around with his own Leaning Tower of Pasta, a boyishly cute grin on his face, and his hand out as well. "Seth Clearwater," he told me, winking at Alice. "You take care of Flea, okay?"

I heard Alice groan loudly, and looked over in time to see her sink to the floor exasperatedly. "Flea?" I asked her, and she squeezed her eyes shut at the pain of the nickname.

"Yes," she moaned in misery, her face dreadfully long. "The smallest parasite that Jake could turn into a bad joke."

I snickered, and another of the musclely guys turned around, his cheeks full and puffed out like a chipmunk's. "S-mone sa' mm n'me?" he said, and all of us looked at him blankly, waiting for him to swallow the gorge of food in his giant mouth and speak again. "Oh, hey, Flea," he said with a grin once his breathing passage and larynx was free of obstructions. "I thought I heard you say my name."

"I was telling Andie that it was the worst you could come up with... '_Flea_'! I'm so much cuter than that," my mate complained, her arms still clenched tightly over her chest, hiding the sexy bust that was coming out of the low-cut white blouse she was wearing... _Andie, stop!_

"Hey, those little fuckers pack a punch," Jake said defensively, as if the nickname should be taken as a compliment. "Just like you do, Flea."

"You would know, wouldn't you?" she purred, giving him a mocking smile. "I'll bet you're well versed in fleas."

Jake shrugged, taking another huge mouthful of food. "Occupational hazard of being a werewolf," he said through the pasta, and I looked at Alice, who was staring at me, apprehensive.

_Werewolves? _Okay, I'd had enough of the supernatural beings for a life time. "There's no mummies or swamp things, any blobs or Frankenstein monsters coming over tonight, right?" I asked, feeling a little light headed. Now I knew why Alice was saying she had a family unlike any I'd known, and why she kept pushing the fact that none of them would hurt me.

"We have a swamp thing," the last of the guys piped up, "if you count Leah."

"How about, _fuck off_, Embry?" A girl I had not noticed through the throng of tan skin spoke up, not eating a thing and hanging back like she wanted to be near a door to bolt if need be. "I've got your _swamp thing_, you dumb shit. Your fucking mom."

Embry's face went red, but he didn't continue to speak, and the female sat back and crossed her arms over her chest, giving me an impatient glance. "What the fuck are you looking at?" she shouted at me, and I went red, just about falling out right then and there, but then Alice was beside me, snarling at the girl, who I had deduced was Leah.

"You want some on your first day back, leech?" she yelled, rising to her feet, shaking all over, and Alice hissed at her in reply.

"LEAH," Jake said, moving in between them. "If you can't respect her or her imprint in their own home, I suggest you hit the trees," he told her firmly, pointing out the open back door. Leah shot him a look of disgust.

"Yes, _sir_," she said poisonously, taking off through the door and I heard something shred, making Jake shake his head.

"I'm sorry about that, Alice," Jake said softly, no joking in his tone. "She was out of line. I'll talk to her."

Alice gave a shaky breath as she eased out of the crouch in front of me, and I reached for her, pulling her against me, and letting her nose seek out its favorite spot in my neck. "I should hunt," she mumbled, pulling back after a second. Looking at her eyes, I saw she really needed to go, but I saw her hesitance to leave me alone in unfamiliar territory.

"It's okay," I said, pushing my fingers through her hair. "Remember, we both need to eat, and then... "

"Right," she breathed, nodding, but not breaking her gaze from mine to leave.

...

A cough shook us out of our trance, and I let go of her hair and her hands dropped from my waist. She opted to press her lips to my cheek rather than my mouth, and smartly, as we were surrounded by a kitchen full of guys who were all staring, some of them in mid-chew, waiting to see if she kissed me goodbye. "Hurry back to me," I whispered as she left with a gust of wind, knowing she would be able to hear, and I knew she would answer, though she knew I couldn't hear it. Alice would always answer me.

**A/N: So, another chapter written and posted. I'm probably going to start 19 tonight, as I was on a roll here, but if I didn't stop it wasn't going to end lol. So maybe you guys will get lucky and I'll splash a few lemon drops in the next chapter.**

**As always, reviews are appreciated.**


	19. Chapter 19

"So... you and Flea, huh?" the one called Embry said as those of us with human needs sat around the dining room table.

I nodded, not knowing how I felt about her nickname. I thought it was kind of cute, but maybe that's because it annoyed her so much, and these guys didn't seem malicious towards her.

"She's all right, for a leech," Embry said agreeably, and Jake shot him a look.

"Feel like joining Leah?" Jake asked him, and Embry turned red and ate faster. Jacob turned his attention to me. "I'm Jacob Black," he said, extending a hand the size of a trash can lid. "I don't think we got that far a minute ago."

"Andie Fowler," I said with a tiny smile, allowing him to shake my hand, forearm, and possibly my elbow. The guy was the biggest one of the four sitting around me. "I'm sorry for upsetting your friend earlier."

All of them gave a chuckle. "Leah is always pissed off about something, you didn't do anything," Seth said, shaking his head as he tore his bread into pieces on his plate. "She's never been a big fan of the Cullens, and she's just calmed down about the Bella and Edward situation, then Flea comes home with you, and you're human... and a girl." He looked up at me apologetically. "She's a bit on the homophobic side."

I shook my head and fed my face again, not knowing how to reply to that. With all the weird races running around the place here, I thought homosexuality would be old news, but apparently not.

"How old are you? Just curious," Jacob asked, glancing to the living room with a light in his eyes.

"Twenty..." Why did my age matter?

"Wow, you look way younger. I feel a little better now," he chuckled, shaking his head. "I thought Flea was robbing the cradle or something."

I scowled, digging back into my food. Robbing the cradle, indeed. _Well, _I thought to myself, _she _was _born eighty-nine years before me, but is eternally almost two years younger. Does that constitute as robbing said cradle?_

"Not technically, as she doesn't have the mind of a hundred and ten year old lady," a male voice said from behind me, and I turned to see Alice's mind-reading brother leaned on the corner of the hallway. He was answering my thoughts! "Alice is nineteen in mind, body, and soul."

"Dad, quit reading Andie's thoughts before you even introduce yourself," a young girl chided, coming up behind him, her dark bronze curls bouncing, and her dark eyes narrowed in scolding.

He laughed softly, looking at his daughter with nothing but love. "You sound like Alice," he told her, and I had to agree. My mate thought etiquette was key. Edward looked back at me, his ocher eyes swimming in amusement at his little girl, and bowed his head a bit. "I'm Edward, and this charming young lady is my daughter, Renesme."

"Hi, Andie! Please, just call me Nessie... my mother wasn't in her right mind when she named me," the girl laughed and I heard Bella's yell of indignance from the living room as Edward just hung his head and chuckled.

"Hello, Nessie," I replied, and Jacob just beamed at her. Talk about robbing the cradle, and I gave myself a mental kick as I looked at Edward, whose eyes shifted from Nessie and Jake embracing to me. _Please don't say anything, I really didn't mean it like that. _Edward nodded, waving a few fingers dismissively. I couldn't help it. Jacob looked like he was twenty-five or twenty-six, and this girl couldn't have been more than sixteen at the most.

"On the dot," Edward whispered, and I knew he was talking to me. "He's twenty-one."

I just tucked back into my meal, confused and missing Alice, who wouldn't be back until long after I was finished eating, because I was already getting full. I was basically just eating to have something to do.

"Rosalie is in the garage, she's wondering about you," Edward gave me an out, and I decided to take it. As I went into the kitchen to wash my plate, Esme appeared and took it from gently.

"I've got this. You should go play with the kids," she told me with a joking wink.

"Esme, are you sure? I mean, you cooked dinner, and it was fabulous. I should really help out cleaning up," I said, but she just shook her head and smiled.

"No, Andie, it's fine, I promise. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Just go have fun, I know you're missing Alice... take your mind off it."

"How'd you know..?"

Esme gave me an understanding smile as she rinsed my plate before scrubbing it off. "Carlisle isn't here right now. I'm using you guys to keep my mind off that," she replied, and I gave her a small grin.

"So, the separartion anxiety is natural? I'm not pathetic?"

Esme actually chuckled for a long second at that question, shaking her head. "No, dear, it's more than natural, just like your... libido issues. It will pass in time."

"I don't know how we're going to be able to be around anyone after I've been changed," I whispered, mortified at the thought.

Esme tucked my hair behind my ears. "Some of us-"

"Meaning me and Rose!" Emmett yelled from the living room, making me giggle, and Esme shook her head at her son.

"Some of us take time to sort out those issues," she went on uninterrupted. "But I have to say, if complete privacy is what you want, you'll go unsatisfied living in a family such as ours. Its pretty don't ask, don't tell, but you can't help but hear some things around here."

"And you're bound to catch an earful about it!" Emmett added from the front, making Esme purse her lips in that direction.

"Just pretend like it's a normal house, with human ears. You'll be fine," Esme assured me, patting me on my shoulder.

"I'm going to go bug Rose, I think," I sighed, looking out of the back door where Alice had disappeared, feeling my stomach twist at her absence. I couldn't wait until I could go hunting with her... I wanted to see her in action. I'll bet she was beautiful, with the grace with which she moved, it couldn't be anything less than the perfect killer.

I went out the back door and walked around to where I'd seen the multi-car garage, but actually found Rosalie bent over the open hood of my Mustang sitting in the yard. "Yeah, I couldn't help it," she told me unapologetically, not looking at me. "I didn't think you'd care, though, so I'm just peeking."

"I don't know why," I answered honestly. "It's all stock, and I'm sure you already know the stock mechanics of a Ford Mustang."

"It's stock for _now_, Andie," Rose corrected me, standing up and looking at me for the first time since I'd walked up on her ass jutting out of my car. "I'm sure you realize the potential this car has?"

I shrugged. I was never much into cars. I thought they were cool, and I could tell makes and models, but when it came to what made them run, I was clueless. Rosalie seemed annoyed with my lack of enthusiasm. "Oh, please tell me you're not like Bella," she complained, rolling her eyes with an aggravated sigh. "Okay, look, kid, here's the deal. You let me rebuild your car into the demon I know I can make it, and I'll continue to like you forever."

"Uh," I said, blinking rapidly. Was she serious? "Yes?" I think that was the right answer. "Am I going to be scared to drive my own car after this?"

Rose shrugged, giving me a short smile. "Maybe at first, but when you and Alice get back from your... trip, you'll be pleased as pie with it. I stand by my word."

What could I say to that? I trusted her with my life... she'd already proven that she'd kill someone over me... even me, if that makes sense. "So, when are you going to start?" I asked her, and she turned away from me and leaned back beneath the hood.

"Not sure," she grunted, pulling on something and tossing it out of the engine. I watched a cord fly past my head. What the hell...? "Now, I guess. I'll have to order some parts tonight, but I can get them shipped pretty quickly. I'll just have to keep Emmett off of me for a few hours, that'll be the hardest part." She grinned, looking over her shoulder to catch my eye. "Literally and figuratively."

I shuddered. Ugh. "T.M.I., Rose," I said, fighting not to gag.

She shrugged, still smiling, and went back to pulling things out of my car. "You'll get used to it. Emmett isn't very shy about our sex life."

"You don't seem to be shy about it, either," I pointed out, and she stopped again to look at me.

"I'm not," she answered, "but I don't fuck and tell, either." And she went back to work, adding, "Emmett does."

* * *

It was dark when I finally left Rosalie to the car alone, and I went upstairs to unpack my clothes, thinking I wouldn't want to do it the next day because the truck with what few belongings I kept would be here, and I would be up to my neck in boxes. I had no idea how Alice could say it would fit in here, as I looked around her room at the items that made it so... Alice. I yawned widely as I stuffed clothes into drawers, glancing over my shoulder at the big bed that looked pretty soft and inviting. I didn't think I'd ever been so tired in my life.

"Nuh-huh," came the only voice that could send chills like that through me, and I looked back again to see Alice hopping through an open window, then closing it behind her. "You still owe me a shower."

I was so happy to see her that all sleepiness evaporated, and I was jumping into her arms before I even realized I'd moved, not caring that she smelled like a wild animal for once, just fucking relieved that she was home. I clutched at her shirt, and her hair, wrapping my legs around her waist and burying my face in her neck. "I missed you," I said, stating the obvious.

"So I see," she laughed, kissing my neck. "But you were going to go to sleep on me just now, I saw it."

I leaned back, looking down at her face as she held me up by the back of my thighs, seeing the color had returned to her irises, making them a shining yellow, the color I associated with her most. I touched her right below her left eye, stroking the patch of skin there with the pad of my thumb, making her smile. I kept making little circles across her face, her eyes closing when I stroked her bottom lip, licking my own in want of it, but I refrained, moving my hand to her neck, then sliding it around to the back and clasping her hair. "Alice?" I whispered.

She opened her eyes and that one dimple creased on her perfect face, making me melt. "Andie?" I couldn't hold back the tremors that went through me when she said my name. I didn't think it would ever change.

But I couldn't ask her the thing I wanted to ask her. I couldn't tell her the thing I wanted to say. Not right now. When she'd said my name, my mood shifted. Something that I'd been pinning down all day slowly stood up and cracked its knuckles, popping its neck in anticipation of the next words to fall from my lips. "I need you to remind me again," I said huskily, leaning down and touching her upper lip with the tip of my tongue, and she tried to catch it before I slid it back in my mouth, but I was already smirking at her cockily.

"Andie... you're teasing more than just me," Alice warned, and my smirk deepened before I leaned down and caught her lips roughly, enticing her to play just a little dirtier than usual. She was getting better about the "harder, faster" thing, without shattering my pelvis like she'd once predicted if we kept up the physical contact, but she also wouldn't use her hips against me yet, though her wrist left hardly any room to complain. I found that if I provoked both sides of her- the girl and the vampire- that the result was a perfect mix of the two. Alice would be gentle when I wanted gentle; the vampire, my mate, would rip my throat out if I told her to, and had no problem putting me against the wall while she banged my brains out when I asked. I was in the mood for my mate tonight. "I'm serious," she panted, pulling away from my mouth with a growl, and I knew the growl was my mate's protest of Alice's actions.

"I know," I answered, feeling a little bit guilty for playing on her emotions for me to get to the more primal part of her. "I'm sorry. I don't know... why I feel like this." That was true, at least. I don't know why I wanted it rough like that lately. It went back to the cravings for her...

"I know why," she scolded, "but it doesn't help matters. This just keeps escalating. What if I let myself go one night, and you end up bitten? You know how hard it is not to claim you when we're like that?"

A shock went through me at the words "claim you". I really liked the sound of that. Alice noticed, giving me a squinty look. "Andie, are you okay?" She set me down and stepped back to take me in from head to toe.

"I'm fine, why?"

"Your eyes changed. They got darker when I said that. I mean, they've been doing that lately, but not until you're against me, and never just with words."

I shrugged. I was just unbelievably turned on, standing there pounding in front of my mate, who was probably questioning my sanity at this point. "Is it wrong to want you to 'claim me', as you put it?"

I watched Alice shiver, her eyes closing for a few moments, then reopening, pitch black now, not a single shade of yellow in them. "Is that what you want?" my mate asked, against me in a flash, lips against my neck, making me moan aloud. "You want the heat in your veins now? You're ready to burn in Hell for me?"

"..yes."

I was on my back so fast that my vision couldn't even keep up with the sudden movement, and my eyes didn't focus right away. The first thing that came into a sharp focus was Alice over me, nudging my legs apart with a knee, and resting herself against me with a tiny thrust, making me go Niagra Falls. "I want you," my mate said, venom glistening over her teeth. "You belong to me, Andie."

"I do," I breathed, reaching up to touch her face again, scared for once that I might not live to see it again. I trusted Alice. I really did. But this was purely the vampire I dealt with now.

Then something shifted in her eyes, and they faded from onyx to butterscotch, and Alice was looking down at me in a panic. "Andie? Did I bite you?"

I shook my head. "No. But I want you to."

"What about-"

"Alice." She stopped and looked into my eyes as the next words fell from my lips. "I'm ready for you to claim me now."


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: ^^^ Owns nothing Twilight. Just her OCs, and the story.**

**A/N: And so we draw closer to the end of the beginning of what may become a series... I still gathered no one's opinion on that, so tell me what you think, guys! And this chapter holds a fat lemon. Just warning you.**

**AlicePOV:**

I knew she couldn't mean that. I knew she had to be kidding me, teasing, joking. I didn't think it was funny. "Andie... you don't mean that."

"I do," she said, stepping forward with her eyes trained on mine, never leaving. "I'm ready to get through this. I'm ready to be with you, to be tied to you. I need your venom in my veins, and your ring on my finger." She took a step closer, and I didn't move, though everything in me screamed for me to either take her or run from her. I couldn't decide which, so I remained very still.

"Andie, think about it... we only just got here. We would have to leave–"

"No, you wouldn't," I heard Esme say softly from down in the living room, where I knew that she, Rose, and Emmett were listening intently.

I switched tracks. "What if I lose control in an unplanned transition? I mean, knowing I'm going to do it–"

"Not on my watch. You could do it, Alice, there are no real reasons to not do it," Rosalie huffed, and I could see her arms lock across her chest stubbornly.

"Rose, I'm scared," I whispered down to my sister, feeling despair roll through me. What if I killed her? I knew the outcome of the planned bite... Andie would be fine. This split-decision bite was another story, completely. I wouldn't be able to have a vision of it, because Andie had made up her mind on the spot.

"We won't let you hurt her, Alice," Esme said in a promising tone, and I looked at Andie, who was staring at me patiently.

"Andie," I whispered painfully, torn between her safety and my selfishness, because I wanted to give her what she wanted, no doubt about that. I just needed her to _survive_ what she wanted. She closed the distance between us and pulled me to her, and my face automatically sought its refuge in that place on her neck that ticked with every pump her heart gave. The sweet fluids rushing through her flesh right there mocked me, telling me that I was a coward, and that I should just bite. I turned my face away, leaving my left cheek on her shoulder. "I love you, you know that, right?" I said, my throat thick with the venom pooling in my mouth.

Her hands pulled me closer to her, and her face pressed against my neck. "I wouldn't ask, if you didn't. I love you, too, Alice."

I squeezed my eyes shut, sure that if I could still cry, that tears would be sliding down my face. How could I have ever thought this would be easy? How could I have written Edward's struggle off as his own selfishness, when it was so plain that Bella wanted nothing more than him? I couldn't appreciate his position at the time, but GOD did I fit in his shoes now. One bite, and she would be mine forever. One bite that I might not be able to pull away from when her blood touched the palate of my tongue.

"Alice?" she murmured from my neck, pulling back to look at me, and it was all I could do to open my eyes. "Kiss me?" She sounded so unsure of herself, so shy. God, how I loved her. I couldn't bear to see her hurt, to see her dejection, to feel her sorrow that I was causing by not answering her straight or giving in. So when her lips brushed against mine and started the pyre inside me that it always struck, I gave myself an answer. I would do this, tonight. But I was going to do it the right way.

After kissing her for a few moments, I gently pulled back and wrapped a hand around her wrist, leading her to my bathroom. I turned the hot water on, and then some cold, to make her bath warm, her eyes never leaving me as I performed these actions. Then as the water ran and the tub filled, I turned back to her and kissed her again, her heart speeding up like it always did. I felt a pang of sadness, thinking that this was among the last moments I would ever hear it, but I pushed the sad feeling away with the notion that she would be mine forever, that Andie would be beside me for eternity. _I could trade her heart beat for that_, I thought to myself with a chuckle, pulling back from her lips to smile at her. "You'll want to shave," I whispered, my eyes floating down her body, letting her know that I meant everything. She had an aversion to her own body hair, and I don't think there was ever a time she had been naked and I saw anything more than the ends poking through the pores, and they would've been invisible to human eyes. I was changed in a time before women were self-conscious enough to remove pubic hairs, and would restrict the razor and scissors to their legs and underarms. So while my arm pits and my legs were virtually hairless, my sex was not, but Andie never showed any sort of disgust when she touched me there, so I never fully understood the motion of shaving her own.

"Yes, I do," she said, biting her lip against a thought in her mind, and I caught a flash in my head of her asking me to do it for her. Oh, the intimacy...

"I will," I answered before she could even ask, and she blushed darkly, ducking her head, but she looked at me from beneath her eyelids gratefully, before dashing back into our bedroom for toiletries.

Back in almost vampiric speed, she was standing in front of me with her face still red, but her shower bag clutched in her right hand. I reached for it, and she gave it over to me, clearing her throat. "How long, again?" she asked in a whisper, not looking at me, but taking off her clothes.

"A few days," I answered softly, knowing what she meant. "It's different for everyone." I turned the water off and straightened up, looking at her until her for-now amethyst eyes met mine. "Are you sure, Andie? You can say no, you can change your mind, you can–"

Her embrace silenced me, her lips kept me quiet, and when she pulled back and smiled at me, I felt the ice around my heart break. "Alice, I'm yours. I'm yours, and I have never been so sure of anything in my life. The only thing I fear is the unknown."

"I'll be right beside you," I promised her. I wouldn't leave for a second. "I'll be there, and the first thing you'll see with vampire eyes will be my face."

"Sounds perfect," she sighed, releasing me and stepping into the water. She sat with her back against a round corner of the tub and looked at me. "Aren't you coming in?"

I hesitated for a half of a second, then placed her bag on the counter to remove the clothes I wore. I would keep these clothes, and the ones Andie wore, as a keepsake of the special event taking place. Her glasses, as well as her father's, would find a place in the trunk I planned to buy, to keep Andie's humanity safe and intact, as it was leaving her this night. I took her razor out of the pouch, and her small can of cream, and placed them on the lip of the tub before I slid into the water with her, and she pulled me to her, burying her nose in my hair. "Stop worrying," she scolded me playfully, and I couldn't help but give a small smile into her shoulder. "I know you can do this, love. You wouldn't hurt me."

I reached up and wound the wet fingers of my right hand in her long hair, my eyes shutting again at the pain of perhaps losing her. I was glad she had faith in me; and once I would have thought so rightly. Now I wasn't so sure. "Andie, I'm scared," I whispered, my voice cracking in my pain. "I don't want this to go badly. I wouldn't ever forgive myself, even as the flames turned me to ash."

"Stop that, Alice," she scolded again, only now not so playfully, and I knew she envisioned me burning. "In a few days, you're going to be schooling me in Hunting 101, and Human Etiquette 101, and all the things I need to learn to be a respectable immortal."

"Maybe you should let me do the schooling in Vampire Gaming 101, so she doesn't continue to whip my ass in CoD," I heard Emmett mutter from the room three doors down, and I heard Rosalie's answering smack, making me snicker despite myself.

"What's funny?" Andie said, pulling my face up to look at her.

I shook my head. "Emmett and Rose. Emmett is still sour about losing to a human, and now that you're about to be immortal, he's not happy with the idea of you humiliating him further." I grinned, despite my efforts not to when I heard Emmett's impatient scoff. "He wants to instruct the classes on Vampire Gaming 101, he said."

Andie rolled her eyes, grinning as well. "You wish, Em," she said, knowing he could hear her. "I'm going to pwn your ass so hard that you'll swear Rose has gotten you with a strap-on."

She didn't need vampiric ears to hear Rosalie's loud laughter, or Emmett's growl of masculine insecurity, and she laughed, too, only stopping when she saw my hand reach for the items on the edge of my bathtub, a serious expression crossing her beautiful face. "What do you want me to shave first?" I asked quietly, and she lifted her leg out of the water and placed the heel of her foot on the edge.

"Bottom to top," she whispered, and I felt something go through me at the tone, not unlike arousal, but not exactly that either. This was something new, a sensation I'd never felt with her before. This was the beginning of the ultimate bond, and the instinctual part of me recognized it for what it was, telling me that it was okay to do this. I took my time lathering her leg, running both my hands up and down her calf, the bend of her knee, all the way to where they met the water that rode to her mid thigh. I heard the soft gasps coming from her, telling me that she was as involved in this new feeling as I, and I gave her small smile as I rinsed my hands free and picked up her razor. "Careful," she whispered, looking at me pointedly. "No accidents to ruin our night, okay?"

"No accidents," I breathed back, glad that my heart was still, or the beating would make my hand unsteady, causing the slip she feared. Slowly I pulled the razor up her shin, and she closed her eyes and let the back of her head rest against the side of the tub as I took care of her bodily preparations, hearing the hair being sliced free beneath the coat of cream, a fascination with the movement seeping through me. Had I ever shaved my legs when I was human? The lack of hair on them now told me they had been shaved, but was I really the one who did it? I doubted it, as I had been in an insane asylum, where I'm sure razors were not common amongst patients. My creator probably shaved me clean before he bit me. Ninety lonely years later, I shaved my mate in love, for the bite that we both wanted her to have.

Painstakingly, I cleared Andie's legs of the offensive hairs, and then it was time for her sex to be void of it, as well. I looked at her as I slid my hands beneath her to lift her out of the water, and she helped me perch her on the side of the tub, with me still in the water moving between her thighs, eye level with her pink folds, the ones I knew like the back of my hand. I saw the pattern with which she shaved, as it hadn't been but a few days, and was sure I could easily follow it without cutting her. It was hell to keep my mind on the task at hand, however, as I fought the urge to lean in and kiss her there, to make her gasp and moan my name like I had numerous times before. I felt a surge of vicious pride. _Mine, all of her is mine._ I couldn't help but grin again, and Andie chuckled as she watched me carefully work the razor on her.

"What are you grinning about down there?" she asked in a loving tone, and I glanced up at her with a sheepish look.

"I'm happy," I replied simply with a one shouldered shrug, and Andie tinkled a laugh.

"It took you being face to face with my who-ha to get that smile from you?" she teased and I rolled my eyes, not at her remark but at the muffled laughter from my siblings down the hall.

"No," I said, nudging her knee with my shoulder. "I'm just... proud. This is mine," I replied, gesturing to her nearly clean shaven sex. Then I pressed my lips to her inner thigh. "Just like this is mine..." I moved up to her lower abdomen, kissing her there. "And this is mine..." Up to her breasts, a moment's attention on each. "These beautiful girls are mine," I whispered against her left nipple, my tongue flashing out to run across it. I pushed my ear against her heart right above it, hearing the thump that would soon cease to be, and pressed my lips there the longest. Then I stood on my knees so that I was face to face with her, cupping her face and pulling it to mine slowly. "I'm just proud that _you_ are mine." I kissed her slowly, not really wanting her to get worked up, and she behaved, knowing it was crucial.

"Alice..." she whispered as I kissed my way back down to my work, picking up the razor again and giving her an innocent smile, one that she returned.

Once I had finished with her underarms, she suggested the shower that we planned, only there wasn't as much lustful touching as the one we'd discussed as a sexual promise. Instead we merely bathed each other, and scrubbed each other's hair. I'd be lying if I said there weren't a few kisses and some heavy petting, but that's nothing compared to what we had been planning. I shut the water off and reached for a towel, wrapping it around my Andie, rubbing her upper arms to create a friction of heat. It was cool in the house for a human, and I knew that, and here she was dripping wet and snuggling against my icy flesh. "How do you want this to happen?" I whispered, and she shook her head because she didn't know.

"I'll tell you what," she whispered back, looking up at me. "Take a picture with me right now."

"Why?"

She looked at her feet for a second, then back up at me with tears in her eyes. "I want to remember that I had my father's eyes."

I nodded jerkily, holding in the dry sob that compressed my lungs, and went to my room, Andie following me closely, towel still wrapped around her tightly, as I dripped free of the water, and was almost dry, except my hair. I retrieved my camera from the shelf the case rested on, and unzipped it, having it ready as fast as I could. "You ready?" I asked her, moving to stand beside her and holding the camera up and away from us.

She pushed her face into the frame with mine, and she did something I wasn't expecting her to do: she smiled radiantly, which my own smile stretched in response. I took the picture, and looked back at Andie, expecting the smile to be faded, but it had merely dimmed, and I knew it was genuine. "Another?" she asked, and I nodded, holding the camera back above us. She pressed her lips to my cheek, and I snapped the picture. She took the camera from me and held it back out above us once more, looking nowhere near the lens, and said in _that_ voice, "Kiss me." Not request. A demand, and one I was more than willing to fulfill. I kissed her, and she snapped the picture, only when she lowered the camera, she pulled away from me long enough to slide it onto my vanity before utilizing that hand in my hair, and returning to my lips.

The towel dropped to the floor, forever forgotten, then we were in our bed a second later, and Andie was pulling me on top of her, opening herself to me like hundreds of times before. The blast of heat from the juncture of her thighs made me shiver into the kiss we were still sharing, and she wrenched her face away from mine before she passed out from the lack of oxygen. "Make love to me," she panted, swallowing hard and licking her lips. "Using your whole body, Alice, not just your hands or your mouth... I want the last human thing I feel to be you moving against me."

I nodded. My reservations of my strength would be null and void after this night, anyway. "Okay," I agreed, and she smiled.

"You know this is going to be amazing, right?" she whimpered as I shifted, now fully against her, not supporting myself at all.

"I hope so. I don't like going into this blind," I said into her ear as I kissed it.

She moaned when I lightly scraped my teeth across the shell of her ear, and the venom pooled up at the noise, but I swallowed it. _Not yet._ "I'll tell you when," she gasped as I continued the affection, only down her neck this time. "But you can't hesitate, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay."

"Alice," she said my name in a clear voice, and I pulled my face from her neck to see a serious look on her face. "I mean it. When I tell you, you bite. Promise me."

I reached a hand up and pushed a few stray hairs from her face. "I promise, love." A soft kiss sealed my end of the contract, and then she smiled into it, pulling me into her harder, her hips beginning to move against me, and I reciprocated, still careful in not wanting to hurt her. The way she felt beneath me was glorious in itself, even if I still could not do some of the things I wanted to do, I still had to touch her like she was made of the thinnest pane of glass that could turn to dust at the brushing of ones fingers. Her heart told me when she was ready for me to touch her, and I leaned my belly up just enough to be able slide my hand down between us, and Andie's breath picked up as she felt me against her there, slipping inside of her easily. I adjusted so that my knuckles across the top of my hand was flush against myself as my hips began to drive into her, rather than my wrist this time, and whimpered with her at the friction on my clit. I'd learned this move from Andie, as she often did it when she was topping me, on the rare occasion I allowed it; I'd so much rather be on top, making her squirm below me with hot frustration, knowing that it was only my touch that could stoke her passion as such.

"Faster," she requested breathily, moving her hips to show me the rhythm she wanted me to match, one of her hands clutched onto my neck, the other against the small of my back, where her short nails were scraping at the stone flesh, but it was a sensation I rather enjoyed. When I picked up the pace, also sliding a third finger into her in the same motion, she let out one hell of a yell for the added pressure inside. When I pressed my thumb onto the bundle of nerves at the top, she keened, her head throwing itself back against the mattress, the hand on the small of my back sliding lower to cup my left butt cheek as she pulled herself into me even more. "Oh, God, Alice!" she gasped as I pounded her harder than I ever had before, hearing it making me push a little bit more. "Oh... fuck..."

"Say you're mine," I growled in her ear, the Mate Mode kicking in at her noises and her oncoming orgasm.

"I'm yours," she answered without hesitation, throwing her head to the left, exposing her neck to me, and the venom pooled... I knew it was coming, as soon as she came...

"I love you," I panted, going rigid with my own orgasm, a noise coming from deep within my throat, and she thrusted up once more and held herself against me, rolling her hips in three long thrusts that seemed to last forever, each one telling me that it was near...

Grabbing my hair to pull my face to hers as she came, she kissed me hard, like it could be the last one she ever gave me... I knew she had seriously considered the risk when she kissed me like that. When she pulled back and went limp beneath me, I pushed myself off of her a bit, scared I would relax _too_ much and crush her, and she reached up to touch my face, and I turned my mouth to kiss her palm. "I love you... and I'm ready," she whispered, turning her face once more, the length of her throat exposed, that vein pulsing just below the thin sheet of skin. I had to bite there. I had to taste her blood, her blood that smelled like ripe cherries. I promised her I would not hesitate, but I had to try to at least collect myself.

I took a deep breath and whispered to tell Rose to be near. "Don't let me kill her," I pleaded through sounds Andie could not yet hear.

"I'm outside the door," she whispered back, and I felt a bit braver.

I leaned down and pressed my lips over her heart, kissing her humanity as it was leaving, truly sorry to see it go, but extremely relieved that she would be mine. There was a beautiful tragedy in this act, and we were both aware of it. I continued upwards to her neck and said softly as my lips brushed the flesh, "I'll be right here with you. Don't be afraid."

"I'm not afraid of you," she whispered, pushing her neck harder against my teeth.

I did the only thing I could do. I bit her.


	21. Chapter 21

**AlicePOV:**

My teeth slid into her easily, and she gasped while pulling my hair, but she did not scream. It all came crashing back to me as her blood caressed my throat: this was ecstasy, the kind of ecstasy that animal blood could not incite, the kind of ecstasy that Andie couldn't inflame- Andie. This was Andie, but- just one more taste, oh _god_ why did I ever abstain from- Andie! Yes, the blood, oh god, so... I moaned, swooning in the rapture, and Andie held tighter. ANDIE. Let go! But...

I felt her hands in my hair begin to slacken and before I knew it I was flying across the room, sliding across the polished wood floor and crashing into a wall, busting through it to the hall where I finally slid to a halt. I was on my feet and face to face with Rosalie in my room in less than a second, both of us snarling and crouched, only Rose was protecting Andie from me... protecting my _mate_ from... me. As soon as the predator was caught off guard I shook myself into reality and eased out of my stance while not looking away from my defensive sister. But then there was a blood curdling scream from the bed behind Rose, making us both flash to the side as Andie arched up again, her face distorted in a look I had seen on the faces of those being tortured under Jane's potent weapon. I knew what that felt like. I remembered the quiet, burning darkness of my transition. I did not scream. I don't think I did.

"Alice!" she gasped after that first scream, her chest starting to heave with pants as her violet eyes searched for my face and I slid into bed with her, cradling her to me, trying to help the burn with my cold flesh, but I knew it would be pointless. I did it because it was all I could do.

"Here, love, I'm right here. I'm so sorry, I hate that I'm so selfish." How could I put her through this hell? This was my fault.

"Alice, stop that," Rose snapped, glaring at me as she held Andie's hand. "She doesn't need that from you right now," she added in a whisper.

Andie screamed again, only she clenched her jaw shut so that it was strangled in her throat, but her eyes still bulged and the muscles in her neck stretched so tight in her convulsion that I thought for sure I heard them begin to rip. I sobbed, holding her as still as I could against her seizing body, and she fell limp again for a moment, panting in the quiet burn as she waited in horrible anticipation for the next bout of incinerating flames. "You- it's- AAAHHH!" Andie tried to speak, but her words were eaten in a scream from another blast of pain, and her body arched into mine again, and I began to sob, only there were no tears for my release, there was only the pressure of tears that would never even form, much less fall. It didn't matter. With her in this state because of me, I did not deserve the relief of tears.

"D-don't leave me," she panted as the spasm passed. "I- I need you."

"I'm not going anywhere, Andrea, I swear," I sobbed, hiding my face in the crook of her neck, where my bite still lingered, fresh, but the call of her blood was gone for me... I'd taken too much before, and I was disgusted with my inability to pull away, even in favor of her life. Ironic that it completely leaves when she is turning... but then, was it possibly because I could smell the sweet scent of my venom mingled with her red blood cells?

"_We_ are not going anywhere," Rosalie corrected, looking at me with her eyebrow raised as if waiting for me to snarl in jealousy. But I merely looked at her and mouthed two words.

"Thank you," I told her, and she smiled, reaching over Andie to tousle my hair.

"Of course," she mouthed back, and then another ear-splitting scream resounded around the room, and Andie arched again between us. Rose helped me hold her still, and I looked up into Rosalie's perfect face, seeing pain and worry that I'm sure mirrored my own.

"I'm right here," I whispered to Andie, trying to give her some sort of comfort in any way I could, but being all too aware of the limitations of comfort available to her during the burn. "I love you, it wont last long, and then it's over and we're together..." I left out that the burn would rise and pulse and eat away at her flesh, crystallizing it, making her as soft a stone as I or anyone in my family. I left out that the burn never truly goes away, that it merely centers and settles in your throat, always there, a constant reminder of the monster inside. I left out that her amethyst colored eyes that I loved so would alter, and grow a dark red, full of her own human blood, which would make her freakishly strong, even stronger than Emmett, the strongest of us by far. I left out that she would perceive the world through senses she couldn't fathom with her limited human brain. I left out a lot more.

Rosalie and I laid with her for a few hours, while her screams died and fell into silent burning, and I heard Jacob's voice down stairs, speaking to Esme.

"Why did you let her do it when Carlisle was not here? Don't you see what could have happened? Alice could have killed her, and then we would all have lost Alice!" Annoying and smelly as he was, a piece of me loved the boy.

"Rosalie was with Alice," Esme replied soothingly, but Jacob scoffed and I could see him balk in my mind.

"That's any better? Blondie's even worse than Alice," he griped, and Rose hissed from the other side of my changing mate, where she lay playing with Andie's hair.

"I'll have you know I've _never_ drank human blood, mutt," she growled under her breath, and I figured Jacob's wolf senses heard her just fine. "And just because I don't like _you_, doesn't mean I have to be a bitch to everyone else... whom I love."

I smiled at this admittance of affection for Andie, and Rose rolled her eyes at me, but couldn't hold back the tug at the corners of her mouth.

"I take it you're okay then, Flea?" Jacob asked from the foot of the stairs, quietly and concernedly.

"I'm fine, Jacob," I whispered, pressing my lips to Andie's crystallizing jaw. She didn't even smell human, anymore. Her human scent of ripened cherries had amplified into a sweet cherry blossom smell, which my nose registered as a vampiric scent, though one that was intoxicating to me, naturally. "She's going to survive, so I'm fine."

"You know Sam might not like this," he said reluctantly, and I closed my eyes against his words. He was right, and the thought was only a mere flicker before I made the choice to adhere to Andie's wishes.

"I'm sorry if I've made your life difficult, Jacob," I said sincerely, true to my words. "But she's my mate, and you as well as I know the unconditional pull we have for our others." Jacob's mate was my own niece, though she was not exactly dating age, she was maturely his.

"I'll keep the pack clear of here for a while, so that we don't overwhelm her when she finishes."

"Thanks," I murmured, focusing on the over-action of Andie's heart, which only seemed to be increasing. Rosalie had stopped breathing to listen to it, as well, and the two of us heard Jacob tell Esme goodbye before he disappeared out of the door to phase as soon as he hit the trees. I heard Esme sigh from the living room, and hum under her breath as she came to the steps and started up them towards us.

"Girls? Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked, coming in the door, barely glancing at the gaping hole in the wall beside it.

"Could you grab some clothes from the dresser right there so I can dress her without moving away from her... I don't think she would like that," I said softly, watching her eyes move behind her eyelids, and as if she were answering me, she squeezed me against her. She was still fully conscious in all her silence and immobility.

"Alice, you stay there," Rose said softly, noticing Andie's grip tightening on me. "I'll dress her."

I nodded, and Andie's grip loosened slightly, telling me that yes- she was aware of us and everything we were saying. Rosalie moved away to help Esme pick the clothes Andie would wake up in, leaving Andie and I alone in the bed for the first time since I'd bitten her twelve hours before. "Can you still hear me?" I whispered to her, and I felt a flick of her muscles in her wrist, and it made me smile. "You're doing so good, Andie," I continued, and I felt her twitch again. My face fell at the next thing that came to mind to say to her. "I hope you still think it's worth it... that I'm worth it." Before I could finish the last word, I felt the pressure of her hand seize down on my wrist and she started to shake again; I'd really upset her, and she was trying to maintain the silent torture, more for my benefit than her own, I felt. I'd severed a bit of her control with my statement.

"Alice, I told you she doesn't need that from you! Be strong, show her you are confident in her and her wishes!" Rosalie hissed from behind me and she slammed a drawer shut. "Now you've pissed her off!"

"Calm down, both of you," Esme said, holding up her hands at the foot of the bed. "You went through it when Emmett was changing, and he was in pain. Alice is only reacting the way a mate would, dealing with it the only way she knows how."

Andie seemed to relax again at the sound of Esme's voice, and I gave Esme a grin. "I think she likes you," I joked, giving my mother a wink.

"It's mutual, my dear," she replied warmly. "She is coming along quickly, no?"

I looked from Esme to Andie and back again. "Is she?"

Esme nodded, looking my mate over as Rosalie slid garments over her exposed skin. "She smells like a vampire, and her skin is advancing. I wonder if her eyes have changed?"

"I don't know, we haven't seem them since an hour after I bit her," I confessed, looking at Esme worriedly.

"Defensive mechanism, closing the eyes against the pain. Humans do that," Rosalie said dismissively, tugging a pair of girls boxers up Andie's thighs. Her thighs... they were becoming even smoother and more toned, due to the venom, and it wasn't until I noticed them that I realized the same went for her whole body. Whereas she had always been trim as a human, her muscle build had been softer and less defined then the vampiric muscle that was building now through her transition. Her flat belly had rippled into gentle abs, and her face had slicked off some remaining baby fat and chiseled itself into perfection. Her hair was darker, longer, without split ends and it was inhumanly lustrous, as if she just left a salon. She was also losing her soft peach color, and the blush from her cheeks was long gone, now a mere memory.

"She's perfect," I breathed, my eyes searching over her still form, drinking every drop of the vampire that was being born by own venom. I had created this impeccable immortal. And she was mine. Why then was this other vampire touching her now, her hands too close to my mate's chest? I growled a warning to this other one, the one that was trepassing on my property, and I felt a hand close on my shoulder.

"Alice, Rose won't hurt your mate," I heard a voice say, and it triggered a memory. Rose... I knew Rose...

I shook my head, coming back into myself, realizing that it was indeed my sister and she wouldn't molest what belonged to me. "Sorry," I muttered, ashamed.

"Understandable," Rosalie replied, now buttoning the shirt she had slipped onto Andie. She looked at me with a taunting smirk. "She's pretty hot, little sister."

I swallowed the snarl and just glared at her instead, inciting a chuckle from her as she finished her task, and stood up straight. "I think I may have worn out my welcome here," she said lightly, not at all offended. "I'll be near if you need me."

Esme placed a kiss on top of my head. "Carlisle will be home shortly. He's sorry he couldn't make it sooner, but they were very busy at the hospital last night."

I nodded at her words and she left the room behind Rosalie, shutting the door behind her, and I heard pieces of the dry wall crumble and fall to dust at the impact. I would have to have that fixed. I didn't care for the reminder that I had nearly killed my Andie. My arms restricted further around her frame, and she sighed from deep inside herself at the action, making me smile. It was almost a relieved sigh, like my holding her was indeed ebbing away some of the flames for her. "Now comes the hardest part," I whispered to her, smiling to myself at my fantasy in my head. Andie was standing beside me in a gorgeous gown, her hair in ringlets around her face, golden eyes set in love and determination. "I just have to get you to marry me." There. A smile, ghosting her motionless lips. "You like the sound of that, huh?" I asked her teasingly, and then nuzzled her. "I love you more than anything, Andie. I could never have imagined what this feeling would be like, to be so devoted to someone and so infatuated with their presence. You own me in so many ways, my love." I kissed her cheek, and fell right back into her side, curling up and relaxing, trying to ignore the prickling in the back of my throat that had not subsided since the first drop of her blood had slid down it.

I heard a car coming down the highway outside our private drive, then the crunch of tires on gravel as Carlisle swerved his Mercedes-Benz to the left and flew down the dirt road as fast as his car would take him. He parked in the front yard as opposed to the garage, and he came flying in the door and was bedside in less than a minute after I'd heard him coming. "I'm sorry, Alice," he apologized as soon as he entered the room, gazing over my Andie in my arms. "I should have been here, but it was madness in the E.R.-"

"She's fine, Carlisle," I answered softly, opening my eyes to look at him. "Rose was there to stop me," I added, not wanting to take responsibility for Andie's safety.

He glanced at the missing portion of wall near the door, and shook his head the tiniest bit. "I'll have the boys start patching that up, before she completes the cycle and sees it," he said softly, looking back to me with a compassion so strong that only he could muster it.

"I should do it," I said solemnly, looking at Andie's face. "It's my fault it happened."

Carlisle sighed, reaching down to squeeze my shoulder reassuringly. "Nonsense, Alice. Edward and Emmett can do it. Edward is worried sick about you, and goodness knows Bella has been blowing up Esme's phone for permission to see you. This will give me a good reason to have them over."

"'Kay," I whispered, feeling the sensation of lethargy washing over me. I wanted to lie in peace.

"She's about half-way, I'd say," he commented after a moment of observation. "Perhaps another twelve to fourteen hours. She's one of the lucky ones."

I felt a lurch inside of myself at his words. _That soon, really?_

"You should probably see to it that she hunts first and foremost, and that she is calm enough to handle the family," he went on, oblivious to the growing seed of excitement in my belly. "And, Alice, I mean this: no shopping trips with her until she has at least passed some of my blood training. We don't need her to slip up, and you know newborns are susceptible."

"I know," I replied, giving him a small smile. He was worried about me running off with my newborn mate to go _shopping_. But this was me were discussing, and he probably felt I couldn't keep the addiction under control for that long.

He smiled and patted the top of Andie's head affectionately. "She looks good, Alice. You did well."

"Thank you, Dad," I said, winking at him for the nickname. But he knew I meant that.

"I'm going to step out with Esme for the day, we're going up to Vancouver for some grab and go," he sighed, looking at his gold watch.

"Will you be home for when she finishes?" I asked him and he nodded.

"The hospital will be fine without me for a day. After we return from hunting, I will be here at your beck and call."

I nodded, not sure if I would need him or not. Bella hadn't been exactly wild as a newborn, and Andie seemed to be dealing fairly well with her situation, as she had not moved since I had upset her three hours before. "I think she'll be okay when she comes to," I said softly, kissing her temple. "I'll try not to let her destroy the house, too," I added for Esme's benefit, as I was sure the worry had crossed her mind more than once, having dealt with newborns in her home three times before with Rose, Emmett, and Bella. Emmett was _still_ as bad as a newborn.

"I would appreciate that, dear," Esme called from the back veranda, waiting on Carlisle so they could depart.

"I'll leave you be with your mate now," Carlisle said, bowing his head respectfully as he backed away towards the door.

I sighed, lying my head on Andie's chest, pressing my ear above her erratic heart, and closed my eyes to savor the last sounds it would ever make. It was only twelve to fourteen more hours before I would be taking her hunting the first time. I grinned at the thought, knowing I would show off for her, to entice her. I knew she would take my bait, too. Oh, we were going to have a fun eternity...


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Sorry about the long wait. I took off on vacation last week, and have been trying to get back in the swing of things at home for the past few days. I hope I still have readers left! This isn't as long as I hoped it would be, but hey- what doesn't get said here gets said in the next chapters. And on that subject, I once again remind you that this story is almost over. I would say less than five chapters left, and then it may come to either a sequel, or perhaps the Bellice I have wanted to try out for quite some time. Opinions on this? If I wrote a Bella/Alice fic, would you guys be interested? I am a Bellice fan, and I know some of you are, as well. Okay, enough from me, here's the story, and please as always, feel free to review.**

**Disclaimer: I own ZERO things Twilight. Not Alice, not any of the Cullens, nor the wolves, nor the idea that they all co-exist uncomfortably in Forks, Washington. That was Stephenie, not I. Andie, however, is my beesh, and her story with Alice, yeah that came from my brain, too.**

**AndiePOV:**

I'd been shut inside myself for years, years of burning and seeing nothing, but hearing everything around my prison, the voices of those who had felt this pain, who had been locked inside as I was now. Their voices and the sensation of Alice's arms around me were anchoring me into keeping a sense of who I was. It was proof that this wasn't the end, that there was more... that there was Alice, my Alice, my pixie-like goddess, the one who danced behind my eyelids even now, when the pain was consuming me.

After I heard Carlisle say that it was twelve to fourteen hours, I reeled because it had only been YEARS since it began, I couldn't remember the time before the burn. Only I knew it hadn't really been years. I knew there would be more years contained in the time period, though sounding so optimistic, and considered "lucky". Could they remember what this felt like, truly? Alice had warned me, had told me. This was an informed decision. And now I paid the price of having Alice forever, lasting through the endless flames that seemed to singe my essence, through the flesh and bone. A small price to be paid for her, this was cheap for the reward.

She had not whispered words of comfort to me for quite a moment, as she had kept a constant stream for the long of the change occuring to me. She was still, I couldn't even feel her breath, though I was aware of the weight of her body on my chest, her ear pressed hard above my heart. It was speeding up to paces that surely would explode it before the venom could poison and freeze it for eternity, and it made me want to make a sound, but I knew if I even so much as whimpered I would start screaming again, so I kept my jaw locked shut, gritting my teeth against the roasting fire. How ironic was it that these very flames contained in my veins would change my body and my heart into ice? There is a poetic beauty there, but I'm not sure if I am the one to weave those words. So I lie in silence and cook into a perfect ice sculpture.

Alice shifted for the first time in months when she heard the sound of my heart sped to a cresendo, and I felt my fingers flex on her forearm, keeping her against me, if she were trying to move away. It was the first movement I'd given since they'd dressed me, but the burn was fading... my legs no longer felt it, I could move my toes; my fingers were nimble again as I opened and closed them on her arm, drawing a sharp gasp from Alice. The burn was only in two places now, my throat and my heart, but as the thrumming became a hum and then stopped, the fire only remained in my throat, and that was the first place I touched as my eyes opened for the first time. Silence hung heavy in the air, not a soul breathed nor moved for the first minute of my vampiric existence, and I read the words etched into the spackle of the ceiling above our bed. As I read the words softly to myself, I realized what they were. "Alice?" I said, my voice now a bell just a tad less high-pitched than hers. I flinched at the sound, but continued. "You have the lyrics to every Beatles' song ever written scratched into your ceiling_? Really_?" I giggled as I turned my face to look at her, but the giggle died in my dry throat as I saw her face for the first time.

There is no way to properly depict the angular perfections, or the shimmer of the thousands of shards of stained glass that made up her skin. I can't describe past the mundane colors of black and ebony to describe the dark eyes that met my own, and you wouldn't believe me if I whispered of the billions of unnamed colors in the spectrum of Alice's eyes. Even every strand of her hair was different shade of what one would call the same color, but I have seen that it is indeed not. Blacks and browns and mahoganys and even some red strands danced in the melody of a swish when she tilted her unspeakably beautiful face up to take in my features as well. I reached down hesitantly, releasing my neck, and she closed her eyes as my finertips grazed her cheekbone, following it to her jaw, and tracing down around her chin. She was warm to the touch, and soft, not at all like I remembered her being. Her skin still had the silky feel despite that I could see now what Alice had meant the told me that vampires glittered, but now it gave beneath my fingers, and was far from the icy statue I had loved to feel against me for so long. _But this? _I let my hands wander down her shoulders, massaging the flesh, staring at her in wonder as it rolled easily beneath my hands, squeezing her bicep, then pulling her up to eye level with me. _This is natural_, I thought to myself as her lips tugged up on one side, and that single dimple creased in, making me melt at the sight of it. I remembered this crooked smile, I remembered it very well. And now with the movement from her lips catching my attention, I found I couldn't move my eyes away from them. I wanted to test how well they would give under pressure now.

"Andie?" The sound of her voice was what broke the spell her lips had cast upon me, not so much the usage of my name. I looked up into her dark eyes once again, and it hit me for the first time that she was thirsty. And as that thought crossed my mind, my own throat prickled at the thought of hunting. I touched it again, and Alice's eyes flickered down to the column of my neck where my fingers rested lightly. "Let me get dressed and we'll go," she said quietly, with an undertone of... disappointment? Was she not happy with me?

"Alice?" I said her name, hurt and confused, and pulled her back to me when she tried to get up. "Are you upset? Am I not...?" I let my sentence die as the expression on her face changed to surprise and incredulity.

"Andie! How can you ever think- what gave you the idea- come here!" She hauled me out of our bed and in front of a mirror, standing behind me as I saw myself for the first time. "Do you see, love? You're just as beautiful as you always were," she said, and I stared at the image reflecting back at me. My eyes... they were a deep burgundy, with an almost plum overtone, and I wondered briefly if it had anything to do with the blue eyes I'd had as a human. My cheeks weren't as round as I remembered, and my eyes weren't too far apart anymore. I opened my mouth to see if my front teeth were still crooked... no. I lifted the tail of my shirt, gasping at the muscles that rippled there, and feeling the sensation of blushing as I saw my tattoo had survived the transformation, the butterfly still penned into my hip. The dark beauty mark on the other side also remained, though now a lighter color and probably only visible to one with vampiric vision. My hair was gorgeous, and I fet relieved that I never did the drastic act of shaving it off.

"Then why did you sound disappointed?" I asked Alice softly, locking eyes with her in the mirror before turning around to really face her.

She ducked her head bashfully, and glanced up at me from beneath her long eyelashes. "I... wanted you to kiss me. I've missed you. It was hell, watching you change, and knowing how you feel now, with the thirst... I was being selfish again."

My throat seared a bit at the mention, but I was starting to realize that as long as I was focused on something else, it didn't seem to bother me so much. I ignored the burn, even now. Instead, I looped my arms around Alice's waist and pulled her to me, leaning my forehead to hers. "Never feel selfish for wanting to kiss me," I scolded her, her lips centimeters from mine. "I don't know what this guilty, selfish complex is you've got going, but you've got to let go of it, Alice."

"I know," she whispered, pulling me even closer.

"I wanted this, too," I reminded her, and she nodded.

"I know."

"I love you," I whispered, and she tinkled a laugh.

"I know," she said cockily, pressing her lips to mine finally, and kissing me like it was the first time all over again. Only this time, she held nothing back, and everything she could never do, she did with this kiss, making my entire being go into a dervish spin, and suddenly my hands began to wander, finding everything they wanted to find, as she had never robed herself after the bite. Right when I had my hands full of her and was lifting her up to carry her to bed, she pulled away from the kiss and gently tugged away from my hands. "Hunt, first," she said reluctantly, dancing to the closet to dress herself, and I did a double take at the way she moved. When not keeping up her human facade, she was a whirl of energy on the tips of her toes, a tiny ballerina. I felt something inside me shift. She was mine. Now the burn I felt was pure pride, as she waltzed out of her closet in a simple black button up and skinny jeans, pint-sized Timberlands laced up her ankles. She had an almost identical pair in her hands, offering them to me. "We don't really need them, but you've got to get used to the routine," she explained, and I took the boots from her to put them on.

Thankfully, Alice hadn't forced me into waking up in evening wear as she had Bella, but I felt that had more to do with Rosalie being the one to actually dress me, as I wouldn't let Alice budge. I smiled in relief as I straightened up and went to the mirror once more, straightening the black button down over shirt that I quickly opened to the white t-shirt beneath, and adjusting the belt in my baggy black jeans. Yes, this was definitely more my style. I gave a sniff, smelling for the scent that I had registered as Rosalie when she lain beside me earlier, and found it not for from where Alice and I were, maybe a wall between us. "Thank you, Rose," I said shyly, and she chuckled at me.

"Anytime," she replied and Alice gave an annoyed little snarl, making me grin and pull her to me where I stood.

"Look, Alice," I whispered, making a gesture at the mirror's reflection. "We finally look like we could actually be together... I finally match you."

"You're not a silly human anymore, you're an even sillier vampire," Alice scoffed with a smile, despite her tone. But then she turned her face to mine and pressed her lips to the tip of my nose. "We've _always_ matched, Andrea, and don't you dare forget that."

"Yes, ma'am," I answered, my eyes falling to her lips once again, and she smiled at me before allowing me to catch them with mine. I inhaled her scent as I kissed her, and caught a strong waft of a warm, sweet scent, like baking cookies with brown sugar. It was intoxicating. What was that, I hadn't ever smelled that on her, and I thought I knew _her_ scent by heart. My mouth followed my nose down, kissing down her neck, sucking greedily at the spot her pulse once beat, and she tangled her fingers in hair with a tiny moan. The scent was stronger here, but still not the source. I heard a roll of thunder in my ears, and it took just a moment to realize it was me: I was purring/snarling in pleasure of the task to find that delectable scent. Alice's fingers tightened their hold at the sound, and I nipped at her collarbone as I ripped her shirt back open, buttons flying and clattering on the wooden floor. Before I knew it, I was on my knees before her, and the smell was stronger than ever, the source being... her arousal? I looked up at her in shock, and she was staring down at me with her chest heaving, her fingers still in my hair. I could smell her arousal. Oh, God, and it did not help my own.

"Andrea... we have to hunt. If we get into this here and now, like this, we will destroy the house," Alice said flatly, hauling me to my feet and disappearing once more into the closet and flashing back out with a different shirt of the same style buttoned and ready to go. She went to the large bay window that faced the oncoming sunrise, and lifted the catch, allowing it to swing forward. "Follow me," she said with a wink, stepping out of it as if she were just taking a step forward.

I came to the edge of the window and saw her waiting below, looking up at me with a teasing grin. I leapt after her, and she took off at a run to the trees. I flashed off after her, dodging trees and roots effortlessly, not growing winded at all as I needed oxygen no longer. It was a thrill, the speed at which I followed my mate, and I felt the urge to jump, so I did. I grabbed a branch maybe thirty feet above the ground and swung myself easily through the trees, laughing gleefully at the sensation. Alice was directly below me and she giggled at me with a tiny shake of her head. Ha, I'd give her a reason to giggle. I launched myself outwards, dipping my head back to follow through with a back flip, landing on my feet about five feet ahead of her when she stopped. "What ya laughin' at, huh?" I said tauntingly, stalking towards her with a sly smile.

She turned so that we began to circle one another, both of us bending slightly into a crouch, but playfully smiling at each other. "You don't want to spar with me, not yet," she warned, and I laughed.

"Why not?" I asked, my eyes roaming her form as we danced the vampires' deadly dance.

"Because," she said, and before I knew what was happening, I hit the ground hard, unecessary air forcing out with a _whoosh_. "I will win," she finished with a seductive whisper in my ear, lightly licking the lobe, making me tremble beneath her.

_Uh, no,_ I thought to myself with a grin, gathering my strength and flipping us so that I was now the one on top. "Not always," I disagreed, and she tried to wiggle loose, but I held firm. "I told you once before: I could get used to the view from up here."

I kissed her and she gave up her struggle, lifting her body into me instead, and after a few minutes of mind-numbing making out, she caught me off guard and rolled out from beneath me, standing up straight and dusting herself off. "_Hunt_, Andie, sheesh! You were right about sex being on your mind more than blood, I think."

"You're right," I gasped, shaking my head. "I'm thirsty until I'm kissing you, and then it doesn't even matter anymore."

She helped me to my feet and dusted me off as well, and then took my hand and led me through the slowly lightening forest, until she came to a stop, lifting her face to the breeze. "What do you smell?" she asked me softly, and I took a turn to sniff.

It was a deep woodsy smell, one that was almost repugnant to my senses, but not quite, and as I concentrated on the scent of its blood, the wet slap of its heart reached my ears, making venom pool up in my mouth. "What is it?" I rasped out, flecks of my venom flying.

"Deer, maybe three of them. You'll want at least two of them, I'm sure," she said her eyes also glazed over with the hunt. "It's best to come from above, if you want it quick and easy. If you feel like giving chase, come at them head on... either way, you'll get your prey."

I was in the clearing before she spoke another syllable. There were two large does, and a small fawn. The fawn was weak, not appealing to my appetite, but the doe on the left made a false pivot and ended up in my embrace, my teeth tearing open the flesh of her neck, the tendons providing no obstacle for me. However, just as soon as the blood spilled onto my tongue and the burn began to fade, the doe was spent and the burn was back, stronger than before. "That was it?" I said disgustedly, looking at the limp carcass in my hands, and I heard Alice give a tinkle from behind me.

"There's no such thing as the Unending Fount, my love," she told me with a twinkle in her eye. "However, if we just change location, this will be a satisfying trip. Shall we continue?"

"Yes," I grunted, lying the doe on the ground. "Is this okay? Just leaving her here?" I gestured at the glassy black eyes that stared at nothing in the trees.

"Scavengers will take care of her," Alice said with a nod, holding out a hand for me to take.

We hunted for hours, until the sun was well up in the sky, and Alice was taking me to a spot near her home to show me something she seemed excited about. "I never got to show you before, so I'm showing you now," she told me as she left me in the shade of the forest and walked out into a sunny field, her stained glass flesh exploding into billions of different spectrums, and I couldn't move when she made a motion for me to join her. "It's okay, Andie," she added to the silent gesture.

I took a deep breath, noting there were no dangerous scents in the immediate area, and listened hard for any sounds that sounded abnormal. I didn't like putting myself out in the open as she was, and wasn't completely comfortable watching Alice do so without me close to protect her. I weighed out that I should follow her out, and just suck up the paranoia, as it seemed to be a simple matter of trusting Alice. I walked to her, gasping when my skin burst into color as hers had, and marveled at the reflections of light dance off each other's beams as Alice pulled me close to her. "It's going to rain in about two hours," she said huskily to me, drawing circles across my chest through my t-shirt. "Which means we have a little while to be out here in the sun together..." She kissed me as her hands went further down and her fingers slid into the belt loops of my jeans and snatched me to her. "I don't know about you, but..." She slid my over shirt off my shoulders and didn't blink as it hit the wet ground beneath our feet, soaking in the snow. "I really don't want the entire house listening in the first time we..." She kissed me again, and no more words were said until she heard me give a pleasurable snarl as she journeyed her kisses down my neck, and my fingertips gripped the hem of her jeans, ready to yank them off. "Do _not_ rip my clothes, Andrea Louise Fowler," she whispered firmly in my ear, giving a tug at my hair.

I fought to pull back from her. If she didn't want to lose the skins, she was going to have to take them off herself. I couldn't see me exerting that amount of patience and control, not with my monster craving its mate the way it was. Knowing the reason for my brief release of her, she made a quick job of her clothes, even folding them and setting them upon a rock before she was in my arms again. "Oh, you throw mine in the snow and the mud, and you _fold_ yours and put them away?" I laughed, swallowing the venom pooling in my mouth. Could vampires drool? The magnetic aspect of her eyes kept sucking me in, and I kept losing environmental awareness, which bugged me slightly, but the sweet aroma from before was back, full force, and it made Mate Mode take over.

Moments later I was shirtless, topping her with my hand already inside, but barely had thrusted once when I heard soft thuds of footsteps approaching and a rank odor floated up my nostrils. I was on my feet and crouched in front of Alice before I could even finish the thought of protecting her, and I saw coming into sight at the treeline a sleek gray wolf. But there was something about the stench that was off-putting, it wasn't right. I felt the need to attack, to engage this thing so it would not focus on Alice. But how could a mere wild animal... I sniffed again, and I smelled a hint of vampire clinging to its fur. _Occupational hazard of being a werewolf,_ I heard Jacob's voice echo in my head. This was one of the pack.

"Leah..." I heard my mate's voice beside me, as if she were answering my silent questions, but her eyes, still darkened in lust, were trained on the lone wolf in the trees. She was addressing the animal. "Back off, please. She's very new, and can't fight her instincts..."

Her sentence trailed off as the wolf curled it's lip and growled at Alice, making my own upper lip rise to show my teeth to this wolf. I wasn't afraid of it, not at all. Leah. The bitch who snapped at me when I had done nothing to offend her. Heh. Now I wasn't such a mouse. We could lock up, monster to monster... my instinct kicked me to circle the she-wolf, but Alice had wrapped her fingers around my upper arm to keep me still. "Andie, don't do it. She's trying to catch a rise, she's in dire need of a fight or an orgasm, I'm not sure which."

Leah growled a stream of snarls and snaps at Alice, but did not come any closer, and I had the feeling that if she had been human, she might not have been saying very nice things. I coiled my thighs to pounce out of Alice's grip and rip the bitch's shaggy head off, but Alice was there in my face, kissing me as if Leah had never appeared, and after a moment or two, we heard her trot away with low snarls. Homophobic, indeed. That girl was a closet case if I'd ever seen one, and I had seen a fair few. She just needed to find a nice girl to turn her out and I bet her attitude with the would would magically dissipate. Major gaydar dings going off for Fluffy the Big Bad Wolf.

As she evaporated in the forest, Alice pulled back from the kiss with a few soft, quiet lip locks. "Maybe we should go back to the house," she said reluctantly, eyes looking down at the ground. "We should actually get the talk out of the way before we get down to that; we're likely not stop for quite a while, and we don't want to keep everyone else waiting."

"Okay," I said painfully, squeezing my eyes shut at yet another test on my patience and self control. She was driving my body crazy right now, just by merely being against me, and I realized she was already dressed again. I whined, burying my nose in her neck and inhaling for some sort of stability. "Let's go. I'll get my shirt you threw so unceremoniously into the mud," I said, trying to joke so as not to focus on having her in every position I've ever imagined us trying.

"It's because you're getting a whole new wardrobe in just a few weeks, love," she said in a teasing promise. "I'm waiting for you to pass some control tests and your eyes to lighten, and baby, we are going SHOPPING!"

**A/N: More delays with the site being weird. I have the secret though! And I wonder what "the talk" will reveal about the next installment for my little world. Oh, and what do you think about Leah's reactions? Leave me some love guys, it's that lil' blue link!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Sorry about the wait, I have been REALLY busy lately and haven't had a chance to really sit down and work on this. You guys can thank my best friend for her idea to have "Stripper Fridays"... every Friday. But you guys were never far from my mind! So, on we go!**

**Thank you all for your reviews, alerts, and favorite adds! It makes my heart so happy! Keep it coming! And I have decided once and for all that yes: I am going to do a Bellice story at the conclusion of this one. A reader called Shabbacabba gave me quite the motivation for it. Thank you, Shabbacabba, and this chapter is for you. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but OCs...**

**AndiePOV:**

"So, what are we going to talk about? I know you already know," I teased my Alice as we walked back to the house at a somewhat human pace. Neither of us was in a hurry to be amongst everyone else, enjoying the company of just us two.

"Well, we have to explain the basics to you, explain the laws and such," she replied with a shrug, and I wrinkled my brow in confusion.

"There's laws?"

Alice nodded, slowing down to an even slower pace. "There are laws, and there are those that enforce them," she said evenly, and I sensed a tightness to her voice. "You see, vampires are usually solitary creatures, unless mated and traveling with said mate. Covens as large as ours are uncommon, almost unheard of. Ours is now nine vampires strong, and several of us have gifts. That in itself is a... threat, to other vampire covens. Now, our cousins, the Denali clan, they are like us in many ways. They live as we live with each other, in peace and love. They value life of all kinds, same as we Cullens. Their family is not so large as ours, however, and the gifts not so rampant. Kate and Eleazar remain the only gifted immortals in their family."

"Kate?" I asked, surprised. "How is she gifted?"

"It's a rather painful touch, akin to an electrical current that runs all over her body," Alice answered, and I pursed my lips in thought. Kate seemed to be such a gentle person, I couldn't imagine her hurting anyone on purpose. "But as I was telling you, there is a coven even larger than ours and our cousins' combined. There is a city in Italy called Volterra, and it is known as a sort of royal city for vampires, as it is the home of the Volturi."

I mouthed the word "Volturi". It just sounded dirty, under-handed. It reminded me strongly of crime family names I'd read about in my studies.

"The Volturi consist of an heirarchy, their personal guard, and then a slew of lackeys at their beck and call." Wow, they sounded like the fucking vampire mafia, too. "The leader, Aro, is an ancient vampire even older than Carlisle, and he is flanked always by his brothers Marcus and Caius. Aro is a collector, for lack of a better word. He likes pretty toys, and he finds those with unique and strong gifts to recruit into service. He was so interested in how Bella would turn out as a vampire, he allowed her to leave Volterra with the knowledge that we exist, and that is their number one law: humans can't know about us."

"Well, _that_ one seems to be broken consistently," I muttered, thinking about Bella, myself, and my father.

Alice gave a tight-lipped smile. "Indeed," she said softly, giving a single nod. "However, I do not think they will judge me too harshly once we go to present you to them. Mates are a different story."

It took a second after she said that for what she actually said to sink in. "Huh? Present me?"

Alice nodded. "It is courtesy that we take our mates to Volterra to meet them. I will probably even invite them to the wedding, to be quite honest."

My mouth dropped open in a very human gesture of incredulance. "Why, Alice?"

"Because it's polite, Andrea, and not to mention that if we didn't, it could cause unnecessary suspicion and then a resulting drama. It's been quiet in our lives for a few years now, we don't want their attention back on us. We just want to live."

I stopped, looking at Alice with my head cocked to one side. "What do you mean, their attention 'back' on you?"

She sighed and turned around to fully face me. "You know how we live. We pose as humans, live human lives despite what we truly are. We interact with them, we respect them. The Volturi do not share the same views as we do. They see humans as their prey, and nothing more. Humans are animals to be cultivated merely for sustenance, like cattle or pigs. It's strange to them how we abstain from what they see as the proper diet for an immortal, and it makes them uncomfortable. They don't understand how taming our demons can help us create stronger bonds, true bonds; not for the power advantage or a necessity. We live together because we are family." She paused and reached her face to mine to press her lips to my frown, and I couldn't help but grin when she pulled back to continue. "They view us as a threat to their dominance of our race, the lawmakers, the judges, the executioners. They truly cannot trust us, though Aro knows every thought most of us have ever had, as it is his own unique gift."

"He can read thoughts like Edward?"

"A bit differently. Edward can only hear current mind trains, and he can hear from up to a half mile radius. Aro, though he can hear everything you've ever told yourself, he has to do it through physical contact."

We walked on in silence for a second. "So, your family is a constant thought in the back of this guy's mind?"

_"Our _family, and most likely._"_

I smiled at her correction, slipping my hand in hers. But then the smile slid from my face with my next thought. "Does he want to... collect you?"

Alice gave a slight nod of confirmation, and snorted. "And Edward, and Bella, and Jasper, and I'm sure he wouldn't say no to Emmett showing up with his impressive width," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

I snarled a little bit at the thought of this Aro fucker _collecting_ my mate. "Good thing I'm just your every day, run of the mill vampire," I tried to joke, pushing the territorial side down.

Alice smacked my upper arm playfully. "You are far from an every day, run of the mill vampire," she told me seriously, making me nudge her.

"Oh, yeah? How so?" I shot back with a wink, to which she laughed and stopped walking again.

She looked at me from head to toe and back again slowly, her eyes stopping on my teasing grin grin playing on my lips, so I did something that would drive her nuts: I swept the tip of my tongue across them and then let the bottom lip hang, so it glistened kissably. "I don't look at every vampire I know and want to merge into a single being with them," she began softly, and my cocky grin faded as she slid her arms around me and locked her eyes into mine. I noticed for the first time that there was a lilac light that shone behind her pupil, deep inside of her. I wondered briefly why she never told me that vampires could see souls, because that is what my instinct told me: I was seeing her soul. "And all I can think about right now is being as close to you as physically, emotionally, mentally, and as subconsciously as possible. I want to be the other half of you." Her breath brushed across my lips as she leaned closer, her nose against mine.

"You already are," I whispered, closing the distance and kissing her. She didn't pull away until my fist clenched in her hair, tugging her face even closer.

"Andie, I swear, we are going to take care of that part," she said softly, stroking my face. "We just have to handle business first. It's all a part of being what we are."

"Let's get it over with, then," I grumbled, and it made her giggle.

"Race you!" Alice said, taking off like a lightning bolt towards home, and I laughed as I took off after her.

She made me feel so light and happy, like I had just woken up from a refreshing nap with oodles of energy to handle anyhting thrown at me. I could get used to this feeling. I loved the heat that exploded in my chest when her eyes locked onto mine, even now. Though my heart did not physically beat, in those moments with Alice when it was just us and our eyes, I swear to you I could feel a phantom flutter in my chest. Watching her dance in her twists and turns as she ran ahead of me, I allowed her to beat me as we cleared the trees into the back yard just out of sheer awe: I couldn't break the spell she had casted on me with the last kiss we'd shared, when I saw her soul the first time.

There was a loud crash in the house before Edward flew outside and was in my face, clenching the collar of my shirt, his eyes wide and crazed. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" he bellowed at me, and I shoved him off of myself, making him fly thirty feet through the air. When he landed on his feet, Alice was already crouched in front of me, torn between protecting me and calming me, but the predominant expression on her face was confusion.

I hissed at Edward as he tried to come closer, but he stopped in his movements and lifted his hands palm out. "I'm sorry, Andie, I didn't mean to react like that. Only, as your thoughts reached my mind when you and Alice arrived, you were thinking something about seeing Alice's _soul_."

"Yeah, so?" I growled, still slightly in a defensive mode, as he had provoked me with his rash actions and loud tone.

"We don't have souls," he said quietly, and Alice looked at me curiously when I snarled at him. His soul was shining brightly behind his golden orbs, a silvery sheen behind the black of his own pupil, and it seemed to shine even more when he said his opinion.

"I beg to differ," I said scathingly, irked with this whole scene. He attacks me, surrenders, then insults my mate by saying she had no soul. It seemed he couldn't see souls, no matter how clearly our thoughts reached his Inner Ear. "Her soul is lilac colored, and yours is silver."

Alice looked at me as if she'd never seeen me at the same time Edward gave a cry. I looked at Edward, and his entire eyes had been consumed with his soul, the silvery light so bright that I was surprised I didn't have to squint in its brilliance. Confusion overtook my irritation with Edward, and he started to laugh. "I can see it! Oh my- Bella!" he was excited, like a little kid on Christmas morning who wakes his parents up before the sun rises.

"Alice, what the hell is going on? You can't see souls?" I asked my mate, who had been watching me with her mouth open since I'd named the colors of their souls.

"Andie- baby- oh, god, what a talent," she breathed, looking at me with innocent eyes, fully fed, brightly yellow, and her flicker of lilac deep within.

Talent?

Bella came out of the treeline from the direction of the cottage she and Edward shared near the main house, and Edward met her half way, picking her up and swinging her around joyfully with a beautiful laugh escaping his throat. "Edward! What's gotten into you?" Bella asked with a nervous chuckle as he set her down on her feet and swooped in to plant a hearty kiss on her cheek.

"Come on, I want Andie to see something," he said, ignoring her questions and dragging her forth to where Alice and I waited near the back door steps.

But I could see her lavender shimmer from where he had stopped her, and seeing this in my mind made Edward give whoop and do a back flip, at which Bella stopped with her mouth open. "What the hell, Edward?" she asked, and he laughed again, taking her hand and kissing it.

"We have souls, love," he told her, and Bella rolled her eyes.

"I know that, I've told you for years that you have a soul," she replied, but he shook his head and gestured to me.

"Andie can _see_ them, Bella! I can see in her mind- there's a light in each of our eyes, unique to the holder... and her talent's instincts tell me- and her- that it's the essence in the body, that it is our very _souls_."

I almost flinched when he was back at our side, holding his arms open with a crooked grin. "Andie, I understand that you are new, that you don't know from Adam, but- I have to hug you." And with that he pulled me into his muscular chest and crushed me to his heart. "I have long spent my existence telling myself that I, and all of our kind, are soulless monsters. There was no proof to the truth, until you came into my life, you gorgeous girl. Thank you, thank you."

Alice gave a squeak of surprise from beside me, and I gave her frightened look as Edward released me. She shook her head at the spectacle, and laughed a little. "Well, so much for you being an every day, run of the mill vampire, huh? You're going to be coveted... and Aro is going to flip his ancient wig."

"He wears a wig?" I asked blankly, and that made Alice, Bella, and Edward bust into deep laughter.

Alice cupped her hand on my jaw and just shook her head at me with a small smile, then pulled me close. "You are one of a kind," she whispered to me. "There's no immortal in this world that could have answered that age old question, and yet here you come into my life like a stranger in the night; only yu have this big, bright flashlight, and you've helped me find my escape from darkness."

"Wish I could have made it sooner," I whispered back, and she squeezed me tighter.

* * *

The talk wasn't as long as I feared it would be. As Alice had given me a brief run down about the Volturi and their purpose, the only things to really cover was the laws, the life-style, the courtesies, and the school thing. It was made clear that if we were going to remain with the coven, I would most defintely have to continue the school thing once I was a controlled individual. I sort of whined a little about that, and Carlisle only smiled.

"Well, Andrea, you seemed like you were a good student, Alice spoke highly of your work ethic and your intelligence," he reasoned. "With the vampire's brain, it will be a thousand times simpler; we store information much like a computer."

I scoffed, thinking about the amount of attention Alice would get while walking down the halls of American Dream High, and Edward gave a chuckle in his throat at my jealousy. I bared my teeth at him, making him roll his eyes playfully, and gesture to me as if saying, "Simmer down."

"She doesn't like the thought of humans approaching me," Alice explained to Esme and Carlisle when they glanced between their eldest son and their youngest daughter- me.

"Of course not," Carlisle said gently. "It is different with us, than humans. However, even as a human, you showed every sign of being mated very much in the vampiric way."

"Alice tried to explain that to me."

"Tried, being the operative word," Alice muttered from beside me, and I gave her a nudge that made me gasp in pain, rubbing her side while giving me an accusatory glare. "That hurt."

"Sorry, babe, I didn't mean to do it so hard," I apologized, and we all heard Emmett chuckle from the living room where he was playing Jasper in CoD, via Xbox Live.

"Yeah, right!" he joked, and I felt my anger rise before he could even make his punchline. "That's all you could say the other night- '_Oh, Alice, harder, faster, oh, Alice'-_"

Before I could get to my feet, Alice had already flown into the living room, and we could hear the sound of her tiny fists pounding him in quick succession, and Emmett's laughter. "Aw, Alice, stop, it tickles- Oh. Wait, Rosie, I was just playing arou- OW!" A sharp slap echoed through the house, and my mate came back into the dining room with her arms crossed over her chest and a smug look on her beautiful face.

"Thank you, Rose," I called to the living room, and I heard Emmett grunt, but his voice was muffled.

"She's gagging him with her hand," Edward answered all our gazes, and we went right back into the conversation as if nothing had happened.

"But after they realize you're together, generally they will back off; and then there's the fact, that though we are pleasing to the eyes, there is a natural repulsion in them for our kind."

"But there's always anomalies, such as that bitch Jessica Stanley, who think that persistence brings you glory," Bella complained from across the table between Esme and Edward. "She sat in my wedding, drooling over Edward from start to finish."

"As her now-husband was having a party in his pants, thinking about if it were him taking you on the honeymoon?" Edward said offhandedly, and Bella opened her mouth to retort.

"Kids," Esme said warningly, and the two of them fell silent, though I am sure they were still thinking back.

"For the record, Edward's right," Alice piped up, unable to contain herself. "Mike Newton was a fruitcake, and Jessica Stanley was just too stupid to be repelled."

"Alice!"

"Sorry, Esme," she said, her head hanging in shame, and I couldn't help but smile at the totally cute posture. Alice lifted her head just slightly, and stuck her tongue out at me for laughing. So painfully adorable. Mine. All mine.

Edward cleared his throat pointedly, and I shook myself at of the thoughts that were flooding my mind, but it's not like I could stop them. I'd been conscious and active for sixteen hours, and not once have I had my mate. To make matters even worse, I'd come close, too close the last time to shake the arousal that had been lurking right beneath the thin surface of my control. I could feel myself start to get territorial again, realizing that there were several vampires around us, and I had not claimed my mate properly yet. Did they know she was mine? My scent lacked on her skin; I didn't like that. My hand reached over and began touching her thigh, and she closed a hand on my wrist with a pained expression. "You're not making this easy for me," she chided me. "I want to just as much as you do, Andrea. You just have to swallow it for now."

"Yeah, 'cause you know Alice doesn't do spitting!" came Emmett's voice again, and then another resounding smack, and his resulting grumbles. I barely noticed any of it.

"On the subject of your talent," Carlisle went on, pointedly ignoring Emmett, "I think we should have Eleazar come for a visit, and perhaps he can help you understand it, and its impact on you."

"Ooo, yes," Alice said excitedly, almost bouncing in her seat. "The family wants to meet her, anyway! And Kate will be beside herself to see how her daughter has turned out."

That pulled me out of my dirty thoughts. "I can see Kate?"

Carlisle nodded, pulling out his iPhone, and making a quick text to Tanya, inviting her and the rest of her family down to meet me. "When will they arrive, Alice?" he asked my mate, and she went still for a moment, then came back with a grin.

"They'll be here tomorrow," she answered brightly, and I grinned. It made me happy to think I would see Kate so soon.

"There's only one more thing I would like to bring up, and then I think we're done for now. I want to talk about your training," Carlisle said, and I looked at him with my head cocked to one side. "I would like to start your control training very soon, before we go to Volterra, as I am afraid they see it as a custom to offer you a... drink."

It didn't take rocket science for me to understand that my new mentor meant that they would throw a human at me and expect me to kill it.

"Alice has seen this, and assured me that you politely decline their generous offer, but I think that this desired result will be obtained only through a rigorous training before our departure. I am going to procure a bag of blood from the hospital stores, and we are going to begin your training while your friend Kate is here. Her power could help to keep you in check, if it seems you might not be able to control yourself."

I thought about that for a second. "I've never smelled human blood," I said softly, realizing the danger in that knowledge. "I don't know how I'll react."

"We have a pretty good idea," he assured me with a tight smile. "It's not going to be pleasant, and it's far from easy. But I see strength in you, and I have faith that you will be able to refrain completely... eventually."

I said nothing, but stared at my hands folded in my lap, and then Alice reached over to stroke the under-side of my wrist with a single finger, attempting to comfort me. It worked, and I gave her a tiny smile. "I'll be there with you through the whole thing, I swear," she whispered, leaning over to press her lips to the corner of my mouth.

"It won't be torture for you, as well?" I asked her, forgetting for a moment the other four people in the room with us.

"It doesn't matter. A little extra practice never hurt anyone," Alice replied with a weak smile, and I heard everything her voice said without saying.

I got lost in the reassuring look she was giving me, and it wasn't until I heard the deafening silence of the house did I realize they had left us alone. I don't mean just left the room, left us alone, but- they'd left the house, I could hear two cars pulling away. "Why did everyone leave?" I asked Alice quietly, wondering if I had made them uncomfortable somehow, maybe by my uneasiness with the training talk.

"They're being nice to us," she replied, something in her eyes shifting, and when she spoke her next words, I knew why. It was my Mate's voice. "They know we're about to be very, _very _rambunctious."

"If that bitch Fluffy shows up, I'm going to spay her," I said, thinking about our last interruption as I pinned Alice against a wall and pressed myself into her, our contours fitting deliciously.

"I'll help you," she answered, and something about the violence in her words made me shudder in all kinds of happy feelings.

"Mine," I whispered, sniffing her hair, her neck, and her bustline, a deep rumble starting in my chest. Then I smelled what my primal self wanted to smell: the scent of fresh-baked cookies.

"All yours," she breathed back, her fingers tangling in my hair as my face explored every inch of her above her chest. "Let's go to our room... we're going to have to limit the destruction to one room, or Esme's going to let Emmett loose on us."

Who cared? Oh, wait... I might when I wasn't in Mate Mode. "Fine," I growled, jerking her up onto my hips and giving her a long grind that made her moan in my ear piteously. "But after that, it's _my _playtime."

After a deep kiss, I ran us up to our room, the door falling from its hinges as I kicked it shut behind us lightly, or what I felt was lightly. I was drowning in her, every sense I possessed was overcome in Alice, as she graffittied her name all over my cold, dead heart; doodled her initials all over my soul; and rubbed the physical proof of her love for me on my thigh as I topped her in our bed. If I hadn't had been so lost in taking my mate for the first time in this new existence, I might have noticed the little black velvet box resting on the bedside table on my side of the bed...

**A/N: So, what did you guys think about Andie's gift? I thought long and hard about it, I didn't want something other vampires have, and I didn't want it to be an aggressive talent. I see Andie as an old soul, someone that's wise in her years, but also young enough to be volatile. Its really sad for me that this story is almost over; I like Andie alot, she is one of the best characters I have ever designed. **

**And don't forget about Leah... I got something for her punk ass. =)**

**Reviews, non?**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Here we go, guys. Last chapter had some awesome reviews, and it put me to work. Thank you so much for the reviews, the alerts, and the favorite adds. You guys rock and I hope you guys enjoy. Lemon alert, and if you don't care to read it, skip down to the first break. :)**

**Disclaimer: I own diddly-squat Twilight. Andie and other OCs (ahem) are of my design and execution. Word to your mama, homes.**

**AlicePOV:**

She owned me. She completely dominated every aspect of the initiation, from carrying me to sanctuary to shedding my clothing without ripping it. Somewhere deep inside myself, the piece of me that wasn't all instinct noted that it was a nice show of control on Andie's behalf, considering that we were utterly instinct right then. I'd wanted this from the moment she had spoken to me when she came to be in this new existence, and it had nearly killed me when Leah had interrupted earlier; it was a testament to how far my control stretched to not join Andie in engaging her to fight.

But none of that mattered now, as she was finally against me, pinning my hands above my head as she kissed me, and ground her hips into mine hard. Shockwaves of incalculable porportions ripped through my entire body, bright white lights flashed before my eyes. I had not ever felt this level of ecstasy with her, and now that we were on even footing, I felt that this was truly our first time mutually making love, despite the vampiric aggression involved. It thrilled me to splay my fingers on her back once she released my wrists to place her hands on my body, feeling her muscles roll like cool liquid beneath her skin as she moved against me. It made me think of watching her take her first kill in the clearing: I nearly came all over myself watching Andie attack, and the thought of how she looked on top of me now was enough to make me whimper. She was all speed and accuracy, death in a single shot, she was an exquisite predator; right now, I was very much her prey. I gasped as I felt her push inside, my back arching and my hips lifting to pull her as deep as she could go, and she whimpered against my chest as her lips devoured the sensitive flesh there.

My fingers worked their way up from where they had been clutching my mate to me by her rear, feeling the magnificence of her strength in her upper back and her powerful shoulders as we thrusted against each other, until they wound themselves in the soft silk of her beautiful hair. She was perfect, and she was mine. The blaze of pride that surged through me gave the fire in my belly fuel to flare, and I pushed myself up into a sitting position to reach her ear as she played me like an instrument she'd known all her life.

There was a song she had played once, in those first times we had been intimate, by an artist with a flair for poetry despite the heavier tone of the music. Her words were beautiful, and well written and versed, and the sound of Andie's voice whispering the words to me while I made love to her then had pushed me to my limits and beyond. I returned the favor now to the best of my ability, kissing my way up her neck, panting and moaning my way to her ear. I repeated the line that had pushed me over. "Honey... you are my favorite... most dangerous fascination," I breathed with a whimper as she froze against me at the words, going rigid inside of me. She pulled back to look into my eyes, and I was met with the blackest of black, dark with need of me. I continued to move my hips against her, my thighs tightening as hard they could around her hips, my hands leaving her neck to roam down her chest to her now toned stomach, making her shudder against me. "Tempt me, devil," I went on with the next verse of the song, so close to coming as she finally broke out of the dazzle I had placed on her and pushed me back down on my back; there was a shine in her eyes, something I'd never seen before, amethyst as her human eyes had been. It brought me closer to the edge, seeing the light in her eyes. "Teach me... what you think... I need..." I couldn't think of the rest of the verse, as she had my brain reeling from the feel of her inside, outside, tearing through my soul, and I couldn't look away from her eyes, but like a whisper in the very back of my mind, it came to me. "Her fingers... are Caesar... slowly conquering me." The light in her eyes got brighter and I felt myself begin to shake beneath her, a sure sign of what was coming. Thunder of a heart beat I did not have could not describe the pounding in my head as thoughts, visions, and flickers all were muted to a roar as all I focused on was my mate. "We move like Buddhas..." I broke off with a loud noise, arching up into her as she gave an extra long and talented move with her hips behind her hand, her fingers pushing against that spot deep inside.

"Twisted in a silent scream, our souls explode with a Shiva frequency," Andie picked up, and I realized she had gotten control of her instinct as well. She kissed me sweetly, and I reached down from where my fingers had rested on her lower abdomen and slipped between us, against her. She gave a tiny noise as she pulled back from my lips with a tiny smile, moving with a slower pace now, keeping me from reaching my finish completely. How frustratingly wonderful. Then she locked lips with me once more before moving her mouth down my body, going for the one thing I've never allowed her to do, and I couldn't help but grin as my head rocked back and my hips searched for the relief she was coming down to give. "Oh, god!" I cried when she swooped the tip of her tongue down the entirity of my folds, tremors shooting through my thighs. Her silent laugh sent air across the wetness accumulated under her dexterous fingers, and I shook uncontrollably again with a tortured noise coming out of me. I had never felt this way before. I_ needed _this. "Andrea... please. Please. I want you to taste me, please," I begged unabashedly as she looked up at me from between the thighs I once feared would claim her life in this position. I feared that no more.

She placed light kisses up the inside of one thigh, inhaling deeply with a contented smile on her face, like she was finally home after a long trip. Once she had paid the other thigh the same affection, she brushed her lips across the thin patch hair that was across the mound of my sex, inhaling again at the scent of me that became stronger by every second she was so close to me, down there. So close.

It felt like hours before I finally felt the pull of her lips on me, then the slick, smooth muscle of her tongue as it slipped out and nudged against the hard nub of nerves at the top, then slid down to my entrance, pushing in and out a few times before sliding back up. Her lips closed on me, and she gently suckled the flesh and nerve, but I didn't want teasingly gentle. "Andie... make me come, baby. Please. Don't tease."

Those words were all it took. Suddenly she had grasped my hips and lifted them into her face and my hand was tangled once more in her hair, and I was rolling my hips like crazy against her mouth, making noises that surely would embarrass me later. Dear god, I was so glad I never let her do this when she was human; I would have accidentally hurt her in this process. There was no way I could have controlled myself, not with the way she was making me feel right now. Nearly a hundred and ten years old, and I have never felt as I did at that moment. I'd found her, I fell in love with her, and she was here with me now, she was _mine_, no one else's, for eternity. "I love you," I whispered, my body rocking with the oncoming explosion, and she did not release me until it was over and she had taken every bit of it, detaching from me with a slight pop.

She kissed and nuzzled her way back up my body, making me shiver in her arms when she finally lay beside me and held me close, tucking her face beneath my jaw to kiss my neck and whisper "I love you, too," in my ear before finally meeting my lips.

I purred in satisfaction of my scent all over her, claiming her against any other immortals from coming close to what was _mine_. Before I could even fully form the thought, I had flipped her over on her back, drawing a chuckle from her, as if she knew this was coming. I could still see the amethyst light behind her eyes as she grinned up at me, putting an arm behind her head to prop up and look at me. I had a vague feeling that I was seeing her soul, much like she could see mine. It was beautiful, and addicting to me, as I felt compelled to stare at it as if it would disappear if I looked away, even for a second. "Andie," I whispered, and she raised an eyebrow. "I think I see your soul. It's amethyst, just like your eyes were." There was a moment of surprise on her face, but then she seemed to understand.

"It would only make sense," she whispered back, reaching up to touch my cheekbone below my right eye, smiling softly. "It belongs to you, after all."

* * *

**AndiePOV:**

I'd never felt so sure of myself than I had for the forty-five minutes since the rest of the family had given us time to.. er, work out some issues. I struggled to catch my instinct in the beginning, but when she began to recite Otep to me in my ear, it brought me back to a very human moment in a vice versa situation. That was what saved the wall that was sure to fall through at any moment, as I had heard something there begin to creak ominously. Calm down now, and if it happened later, we could blame it on Rose and Emmett.

She'd never let me try to touch her with anything but a tentative hand, as I'm sure a broken wrist would not have been fatal, as opposed to if she was to have crushed my skull. But now... Now I could take my time kissing all the way down her beautiful body for the first time, and finally show her exactly where my deepest desire for her lie, in showing her how much I loved _every _part of her, head to toe, inside and out. Worship, the only thing that comes to mind as she whispered those sacred words to me as she looked dead into my eyes as we indeed twisted together in a silent scream of victory, of ecstasy. She was my other half and she was finally mine in nearly every way. And soon to be my wife, as soon as I could arrange it. I worshipped her. She owned me.

The caress of her voice whispering those three words that held so much magic over my entire being; saying them as she fell over the edge and I took her into me, to merge her with this body I now wore, just as the blood of my prey. I was insanely proud that it was my right to to whisper them back before I met her lips with mine, knowing that her purr came from her taste and scent on me. This would spark that same need in her, to allow me to mark her with my own scent, so when she flipped me over on my back and that lilac light burned beautifully in her ebony eyes, I merely smirked. I knew what was to come from this point. Except for what she said. "I think I can see your soul. It's amethyst, like your eyes were." She'd never seen them before now, and mine was the first she'd seen. Well, it made sense, I suppose as it belonged to her. I told her so.

"Andie..." She moved to where she was straddled across my lap, looking down at me, biting her lip nervously. "I want to ask you something, but..."

"Just ask me, Alice, you can ask me anything, I'll always answer honestly."

"I know what the answer will be, but you hesitated in the vision. I wanted to know what the hesitation was for," she said slowly, not meeting my eyes, looking down to the bedside table to my right. I remained silent, waiting on her to continue, because I felt there was more. Then her eyes shifted back to mine, and her soul was a tiny light, as if it were shrinking back from me, and I didn't like that at all. "Andrea, I want you to marry me, I want you to be my wife, and I want to remarry you every fifty years, for the rest of our existence. And in my vision, when I decided to ask you, _really ask you_ to marry me, you... you hesitated. Why would you?"

My brow furrowed. Why would I have hesitated? I had no doubts about Alice, and our future, none at all. I just didn't know where we could go to actually have a ceremony and obtain a piece of paper that stated we were legally married. I had thought about that when I was human. "Alice, I honestly can't tell you a reason why I might have hesitated, because I am going to marry you, and soon. I know it, you know it, everyone we know knows it. The only thing that could make it more official would be the rings."

She gave me a small smile, one dimple caving in, and she reached over to where her eyes had trained a few moments earlier, coming back with a small black box. "I may have taken the initiative," she said, and I tore my eyes away from the box in her hand to meet her eyes again, finding home in the pinkish-purple light there in the returning gold. "But I want to tell you some things, first, so that we're in the clear, okay?"

I nodded and waited for her to go on, and she slid sideways off of me and onto the bed, folding her legs beneath her. I pulled myself up into a sitting position so as to look her directly in the eyes. "I've waited on you since I first opened my eyes to this existence, seventy years before you were even born. I had my family, but I still felt lost, like a puzzle piece forgotten beneath the table. Then around noon on May fourteenth of 1990, something changed. I was happy, smiling, no longer focusing on what I might or might not have lost as a human. It was as if a weight I'd carried all my existence had been relieved, and I could stand up straight for the first time. I didn't loathe the sunrise anymore." She paused and smiled at me, and I smiled back; May 14, 1990 was the day I was born, at 11:52 a.m. Sucking her bottom lip thoughtfully, she went on. "The day you came to be in this world, it was like I knew I was no longer alone. My... soul, wow, it recognized the shift of energy as another soul now shared the same thread of fate." She stopped and stared at me again, with that same little grin.

"What is that smile about?" I couldn't help but ask, grinning back at her uncontrollably, making her giggle.

"Nothing, love, just how lucky I am... a point to which I reaching," she replied, and I made a gesture for her to continue. "I never told you, but I was playing with the idea of Paris before deciding to stay in the States." She looked almost guilty telling me this, but after I gave her jaw a reassuring stroke, she looked back at me. "So, I went with Jazz to Dartmouth, but only under the condition he spend the next college run in France with me."

"Hold on," I interrupted her; I couldn't help it. "If you had gone to Paris, when would you have left?"

She gave me a strange look but answered the question. "In the fall of '08, why?"

My mouth dropped open, remembering the trip I had missed out on after my senior year. "I was going to spend the first semester of college in Paris, just for kicks and to feed my history fetish. I would have gotten there in late August, and would have stayed until June '09. I aborted because my father didn't like the thought of me taking a year off, so I went directly into school, like he wanted. I decided to go on to college that May, just after my birthday, right before graduation."

"So, you think we would have met, even in Paris?"

I nodded my head." If we had indeed moved there, then yes, but it just further proves the point that we're meant to be. I'll bet my decision to stay influenced your decision to stay, as well. Our souls knew it was time."

"I'm so lucky I'm immortal. I would have died a miserable human, never having known you, or this," she breathed a moment later, after looking at me curiously, before seeming satisfied with what she found. "You're an enigma that I want to spend eternity figuring out, Andrea Louise Fowler. And you're right, I'm sure your decision is what led to mine. Fate was pulling our string taught and plucking it so that we reverberated into the same place. It was cruel, how tempting you were for me, though, love. When you finally get a whiff of a human, I want you to imagine that times, like, a billion. That would be what I had to suffer the first year I knew you."

"I'm sorry, Alice," I mumbled; though I knew it was out of our hands, I still felt guilty that my human blood had tested her near-perfect control.

"No matter, Andie, it's all a memory, now. And it all came to be as we wanted. Now all we have left to tie us are these and what they symbolize." She flipped open the box and I saw twin rings, tiny and silver and crusted in tiny diamonds, nestled together in the pillow of the box. "I know it seems like we've been on the fast track since we finally admitted what has existed the whole time, but I only speak for myself when I say that you've been mine since the moment I saw you. With that in mind, our relationship has spanned for nearly three years, and it has been the happiest three years I've ever had. I would be the happiest vampire breathing if you would please accept my ring and my hand, and become my wife." I saw the tears appear that would never fall, and my cold heart broke at the look on her face, so innocent and hopeful, like I could shatter her with the slightest touch. Her soul twinkled brightly at me, as if waving hello. "Will you please marry me, Andie?"

"Of course," I whispered, cupping her jaw and closing the distance between us to kiss her. No hesitation. I don't know what had spurned that in her vision, unless I had been bedazzled by the light in her eyes when she asked, baring all of her brilliant soul to me without truly knowing she was doing it. Alice was mine, and not even just in the instinctual aspect alone. She was what the sane part of me, the human left in me, adored and worshipped. She was the light in my life, before and after I had become this. She was why I became this. I could never leave her, because I belonged to her just as sure she was mine. I felt her press a ring into the palm of my right hand as she took my left into her own, and we slipped the rings into their rightful places at the same moment, never pulling away from each other. It felt like it was a part of me, and it had only just met the base of my finger. This was my Alice, wrapped around my finger.

Am I being cheesy? Cheesy never felt so good.

* * *

**AlicePOV:**

"We're home!"

Emmett's voice boomed out as if we'd had no idea that they had arrived back several, several hours later. We only had a few more hours before the cousins would come pulling up with the horn honking, so I was trying to convince Andie to take a quick hunt so she would be composed before my vision's fruitation. She was insistent on remining right where we were, tangled in the sheets of a bed that had never had as much use as it had in the past few days. While I was in total agreement that it would be amazing to carry on as we had been, kissing and touching, rolling and thrusting... Okay, I had to let go of those thoughts... I knew there were more important things to handle.

"Come on, we have tell them! Rose is going to flip," I said excitedly to my soon-to-be-wife, who groaned playfully before pulling me back down on her to hold me.

"Alice," she half-whined, half-moaned into my ear, just enough to make me shudder and very nearly give in. I struggled to get out of her arms, and succeeded so I took my chance to jump back from her, out of reach.

"Later. I swear, I promise, I'll sign a contract, but please just come with me," I pleaded with her and she finally gave in with a huff, throwing her legs off the bed with such a force that the bedrail snapped. I stared at the sagging matress and support box, then bursted into giggles. "All of the strain we've placed on that bed, and it only gives under your little newborn temper."

She glared at me as she went to her dresser and began to pull clothes out of it. "For that, I'm showering _alone_," she said tauntingly, and I just shook my head as she went into the bathroom and shut the door, locking it. As if it would keep me out if I _truly_ wanted in.

"Go right ahead, there's several more in the house, you know!" I called to her, dashing into my closet to find a cute dress, keeping in mind that she had said my soul was lilac. I found the color I was looking for and dashed out of the room again before she could reappear from the bathroom.

I ran into Rosalie in the hallway, and she looked at me, her nose wrinkled. "God, Alice. Is that _all_ you two did for last sixteen hours?"

"Shut up, Rose," I giggled, and as I danced past her into her room to use their shower, I turned around and showed my left hand to her, making her eyes go wide. I held a finger to my lips as she made to say something and she gave a sigh, but nodded.

"Is everyone here?" I asked no one in particular, as everyone could hear the question.

"Everyone but Edward, Bella, and Nessie, dear," Esme replied quietly, and I grinned.

"Tanya and the gang will be here in exactly an hour and fifty-two minutes. I'd like to have everyone here for an announcement."

"Alice! No! What?" Andie exclaimed from the shower next door, and I heard it shut off as I began to wash.

"Yep," I said with a grin. "I want to shout it out to all ears, love. Can you blame me?" I teased her, and she growled.

"What is going on, Alice?" Carlisle asked me, and I grinned.

"Just have to wait and see, Pop," I said cheekily, and I heard my mate give an unwilling chuckle as Emmett laughed his loud laugh.

I smiled to myself as I finished up, and it was when I was getting out and drying myself that I felt the haze of a strong vision coming, one of those I had no hopes in fighting off, and the dazes we often had to expalinaway to humans in school.

_She had long black hair, and moved through the tops of the trees with moves like the most graceful of ballerinas. Her eyes had the muddy look of a blood drinker in dietary transistion from human blood to animal, and there was a playful grin on her lips as she scurried through the trees, and now it became clear she was hunting- a rather large mountain lion._

_"Here, kitty, kitty," she purred. "You're a beautiful being, and I am awfully sorry, but your majesty must end tonight." Then a troubled look crossed her features as the cat screamed its defiance at her words. "So I don't become monsters like _them_," she whispered to herself before she even noticed the cat had launched itself at her. She fed from it, stroking the fur around its neck as she drained it, and when she pulled back, she hopped from the low branch their chase had ended upon, lying it on the ground almost reverently. "I hope these Cullens can help me," she whispered, looking to the east, where her destination lie. "Perhaps the Seer can predict my arrival before they harm me. I just want to state my story and ask their advice. Then I will be on my way."_

_She began to run the direction her nose told her to travel, following the scents of other vampires, ones that did not smell exactly the same as others she'd known, but worrying briefly what the other scent intermingled could be. "It's repugnant, how could they make this a coven stead?" she muttered to herself, then she smelled it stronger. "What the hell?" she cried._

The vision went white, and I knew what that meant. The wolves had found this female vampire, and were hot on her trail. "CARLISLE! WE HAVE COMPANY!"

I flew downstairs and out of the back door, heading west towards the place I'd last last seen her, hoping to catch her before the wolves intervined. Something was telling me to stop them from hurting her. Andie was running directly to my right, and I interlaced my fingers with hers, squeezing gently. It was as if she had been here for something like this before, the way she had just solidified with the rest of us so easily when we headed here as one.

About a mile from where I'd seen her, a howl rang long and true, and I recognized the wolf it belonged to. It was Leah's howl, and if she were the first wolf on the scene, then I could only pray that this vampire wasn't already being torn to shreds.

**A/N: Remember when I said I got something for Leah's punk ass? Heh. Okay, so how was it? Are you still with me, people? :P Reviews went up a lil last chapter, so let's see if we can make it to 50... please? **

**Song lyrics from the lemon are Otep's "Sweet Tooth", and if you haven't heard it, sheesh, where have you been? It's amazing! And it was perfect. And Otep is a poetic genius. Okay, I'm done.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight. I own not the original character that is mentioned in this chapter. That nod goes to the genius Hollowgo. **

**A/N: With that little clue in the disclaimer, can anyone guess who might be mentioned? :P**

**AndiePOV:**

Before Alice could make her announcement she wanted to twist into a public speech (bless her), I heard the utter silence instill in the room connected to the one I was now dressing in, telling me she was in a vision. When she came to with her sharp intake of air, and the outburst to Carlisle, I hastened to put the Etnies I held onto my feet and bolted through our open bedroom door. Alice was already half way across the back yard, but I caught up quickly with a newborn sized leap to level with her, and she threaded her fingers through mine with a light squeeze. Not thirty seconds into our run, a sharp howl rand through the air, and Alice gave a miniscule shake of her head, her eyes hardening. Coming to a halt in the tree line of a tiny break in the trees, I saw what I thought I'd never see: the silver wolf that I had come to know as the bane of my existence was _bowing_ at the feet of a terrified female vampire with long black hair. Carlisle came to a stop on my right, and he gave a chuckle. "Looks like Leah has a new friend," he said in a low whisper, and enter Rosalie's scoff stage left.

A low rumble and accompanying heavy footsteps galloping up announced Jacob's arrival on the other side of the pair in the tree break, and even from a hundred and fifty feet I could see the disbelief in his eyes. There was silence in the tree break, with no one moving or breathing, aside from Jacob and Leah, who were both panting heavily. Then Leah did something else and began to scream hysterically in her wolf's form, sounding like it was being slaughtered before our inquisitive eyes, only the vampire frozen in front of her had not even so much as taken a breath since she had come into my range of vision. I didn't turn around as two more sets of foot falls approached quickly, as the scents that wafted beneath my nose told me it was Edward and Bella come to join us.

"What's wrong with her? What are you doing to her?" Esme asked the stranger, but Edward placed a gentle hand on his mother's arm to quieten her.

"She's doing nothing. Leah has imprinted, and she's not taking it very well," he said grimly, and at his words Leah tore away from the beautiful girl and ran into the woods, nearly bowling Jacob over as she ran past him. As soon as Leah had disappeared, the vampire looked at us with her eyes as wide as dinner plates, but still did not speak. The only sound now was the sound of Jacob taking off after Leah, and her tortured snarls and barks, growing fainter as she ran away from her fate.

"Cullens?" she asked after a second, with a startled and confused look at me, and then my yellow eyed family. Her soul was glinting a cornflower blue. I trusted the color, it seemed honest to me for some reason. I also had a feeling why she looked at me so; I knew I stood out from the rest of my family, and why her eyes kept returning to me.

"Newborn," I answered her unasked question simply, pointing at myself.

Her eyes bugged out. "Controlled?" she asked in awe, still fearful of lil' ol' me.

"Who are you?" Rosalie demanded loudly, breaking into the initial exchange. Leave it to Rosalie to force her way to the bottom of the situation.

She let her gaze fall on my drop-dead gorgeous sister-in-law and it seemed all words escaped her, making Rose growl a little at her hesitance to answer, and the girl's eyes widened just _that_ much more in fear of Rose's aggression._ I could have related, once._ But then she ignored Rosalie and her eyes, once again, rested on me.

"Her name is Kalilah," Edward answered over his sister's warning snarls, studying the new vampire with slitted eyes. "She's just left the Volturi... they were trying to induct her into the guard. She is a Fire Child." Gasps were heard all around me, except from Bella and myself, and the two of us exchanged a confused look.

"She told me there was a mind reader," Kalilah said softly, ignoring the reaction divinely, and gazing at Edward thoughtfully before once more shifting attention back to me.

"Who told you that?" Alice asked from beside me, attempting to catch the drifter's attention from me. I could see the frustration lying beneath Alice's calm and cool exterior.

"Jane," she answered easily, barely sparing a glance at Alice, but her eyes settling back on me in apprehension. What, did she think I was going to go on a newborn rampage at any minute?

"Please stop looking at my mate," Alice blurted out loudly; I winced at the volume of her command, as she was so close to my sensitive ear.

"She's afraid of her, Alice, not attracted to her," Edward muttered, and Alice snarled at him, making him chuckle to himself and pat her on her head.

Carlisle stepped forward, his hands up in a peace offering. "Please, allow me to introduce myself and my family. I am Carlisle Cullen, this is my wife, Esme, and our children: Emmett and Rosalie; Alice and Andie; Edward and Bella. We make our home just east of here, but I think you were aware, correct?"

Kalilah nodded slowly, and glanced at us kids nervously before looking back at Carlisle. "I was seeking you out. I need advice, and the rumors of you in Volterra run rampant that you live a... an alternative lifestyle."

"As in, our diet?" he asked gently, and she nodded again, uncomfortable. "It seems you are well on your own way to sharing it," he went on, noting her orange tinted eyes.

"I am trying," she said, looking away. "Only, I find that I fail sometimes... I've taken three humans since trying to change. One was less than a week ago. But I hate being this, this thing that is always burning me. I need your advice, Mr. Cullen," she repeated, looking at Carlisle imploringly, and he looked at Esme, who nodded.

"Please, call me Carlisle," he said with a small smile, and Kalilah gave a tiny smile in return. "Perhaps we would be more comfortable with a change of venue? Follow us."

Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett escorted our visitor back to our house, leaving the remaining four of us rooted to the spot beside the tree break.

"I think she's genuine," I said in a fast blur of words, feeling compelled to vouch for the girl. "Her soul is cornflower blue, and it shines, just as the rest of yours. There's an innocence to her."

"Her thoughts are just as pure, only she's as curious as a young human child," Edward agreed, nodding his head at my assessment. "She is terrified of Andie, because she doesn't trust newborns; and of Leah, because of the freaky effect of the wolf imprint." He shuddered. "It's like she's had choice stripped away, and she's so inquisitive it makes my head hurt."

Alice folded her arms across her chest and glared at the ground. "She looked at Andie too much. It was more than just a fear of newborns," she grumbled, making me giggle at her sullen attitude.

"You called her a Fire Child?" Bella cut in, a frown of deep thought etched onto her beautiful face. "What do you mean? She's gifted with fire?"

Edward and Alice both nodded. "_Il Fuoco Bambini. _There's supposedly only three in existence," Alice told her. "Before tonight, I had only heard the name of one of them, a woman called Amara. She made a name for herself in vampire lore. The other female must be Kalilah. And the last one is a male vampire, so the stories go."

"I see why Aro was interested," Bella said darkly, scowling.

"Clearly," Edward replied as we began to slowly make our way back to the house. "But I don't think her character is what he is looking for. She's too decent for the Volturi."

"And Leah imprinted on her," Bella murmured thoughtfully, and I looked at Alice.

"What is imprinting?" I asked her, and she looked at Edward, who sighed.

"Really, Alice?" he groaned, then took a breath when she merely waited for him to continue. "Imprinting is similar to the way vampires mate themselves. It's something that happens when a Quileute wolf sees their soul mate for the first time, like a magnet to metal. There's no force stronger than that of an imprinted bond, just as with our mating. A prime example of imprinting that you have seen for yourself is Jacob's imprint on our daughter."

My mouth fell open. "He is her _mate_?"

Edward nodded. "By definition, our Nessie belongs to Jacob perhaps even more than she does to Bella and me."

"So, Leah- homophobic leech hater extraordinaire- has imprinted on a person that embodies what she hates most," I stated for clarification, and the three of them nodded.

"I think it's hilarious, honestly," Bella said with a grin, and Alice giggled as she elbowed her best friend. "All that 'leech lover' shit she spat at me when I was still human... she is definitely owning up some karma right now."

"Leah has never been homophobic," Edward disagreed, shaking his head. "Now that the wolf's out of the closet, so to speak, I'll tell you." He paused, and then said with a laugh, "Leah's gay, and she's been gay since before Sam... he was her cover at first, then she actually fell for him, despite the fact that she never... was satisfied with him, physically speaking. She's had a hard time coming to terms with it, hence most of her attitude. And the day Andie met her, she was pissed off that a girl as gorgeous as Andie could be with a corpse, but not with a real girl. Her hatred for our kind is very real, though the homophobia is not."

"Which is why she made such a big deal out of her imprint," Alice muttered. "At least she won't be drooling all over Andie now."

I rolled my eyes and linked my arm through hers. "Cheer up, love," I said in a chipper tone, smiling at her. "It's you that gets to meet me at the altar, not anyone else."

"Speaking of altars, and meeting people there, when were you two planning to explain the new jewelry on those particular fingers?" Bella said in an offhanded way. Alice made a face at her.

"When we were good and ready," Alice shot back, making Bella stick her midde finger up in a salute.

"Seriously, Alice... you remember the big deal you made about my wedding when I planned to elope to Las Vegas?"

"Yeah...?"

Bella grinned deviously. "Payback is a bitch."

With that, she took off at a full run, and Alice gave a squeal when she saw a flicker of what Bella planned to do, taking off after her. "Isabella Marie Cullen! You better not, this is my news to tell!" she yelled, and I shook my head at them as Edward and I picked up speed so as not to be left in the dust. We came upon them short of the intended destination, tangled up in a rolling ball that was knocking trees down as if they were bowling pins, Alice cussing under her breath and Bella laughing uproariously at Alice's efforts, but fighting back just the same.

I looked over at Edward as they destroyed the forest around us, and deflected a falling evergreen with a lazy flick of my wrist. "What do we do?" I asked him, and he laughed.

"Just let them get it out of their systems," he answered with a shrug, looking back at our mates rolling through the foliage.

Alice seemed to be slowly getting the upper hand, as she swung Bella out away from her body and launched her into a pile of brush they had created with their tussle. Bella hopped back onto her feet with a small hiss, her eyes getting a bit darker, her posture reeking attack. It was going too far, and I snarled at Bella as I shot in front of Alice, crouching to pounce her if she moved. Alice groaned at me, and gave my shoulder a push from behind. "Andie, it's no big deal. She's just moody, and besides... I can handle Bella myself, she never beats me in spar," she said to me, adding that last playful taunt for Bella's benefit. Bella scoffed, and I eased up as she stood straight and relaxed her body.

"Sorry to upset you," Bella said to me, offering a smile. "I get carried away sometimes."

"She's an absolute tigress once she's in a passionate state, be it violence or-"

"Got it, thanks!" Alice cut her brother off, making them laugh. "Let's just go see what's going on at the house, because I can't see anything now that Kalilah is there."

"You can't see her?" I asked, and Alice shook her head.

"Nope. Her future disappeared just as soon as Leah intercepted her, and I haven't seen a flash of it since."

"What does that mean?"

Alice grinned. "It means that Leah is certainly going to like at least _one_ leech in the world. I knew she snuck up on us in that field for a reason. She was being a peeper! Being all defensive when she got too close and got caught. Bah. Hypocrite."

"She really can't help how she thinks, Alice," Edward said patiently as we wove through the rest of the trees between us and the back yard. "Leah is, for lack of a better phrase, a product of her environment."

Alice rolled her eyes. "You know my opinion on that theory, Edward," she said.

"Still... either way, this will most likely be an eye-opening experience for her, so we'll get to see how she'll grow through this," Edward finished as we broke free of the forest.

"Less than an hour and the cousins will be here," Alice said softly, pausing on the back steps as Edward and Bella entered the house. I stopped with Alice, giving her a questioning look. "A newborn with a unique talent, a Fire Child that wandered onto our territory seeking counsel then imprinted with a Quileute wolf, and a wedding announcement," she went on, whispering the last part where only I could hear, no more than the brushes of her lips and tongue forming the words for my ears. "That's a lot for us to throw onto them as they exit the vehicle. Tanya especially may be a little perturbed."

"Well, love, the way I've heard it, your family is nothing short of the most unique one in the world. I should think things like this would be expected."

She laughed at me, holding my eyes as she reached to touch my cheek. Her soul winked at me in good humor, but her tone was serious when she said, "You haven't seen anything, yet."

* * *

"You have _got _to do something about those eyes, girl!"

Those were Kate's first words as she exited the Mercedes-Benz SUV they had arrived in, shutting the door behind her. I grinned, racing over to her to give her a hug, and she laughed. "Whoa, easy now, you're stronger than I, remember?"

"Sorry," I said sheepishly, releasing her and taking a step back. She looked me up and down from head to toe, her lips pursed in a tight line before she finally gave a warm smile.

"You look good. Alice, kid, you did a good job. It happened sooner than I expected, though," Kate admitted, looking from Alice's shy smile to my full blown grin. "So, how are you doing? Kill anybody yet?"

I winced at the brutality of her query, and Alice hissed at her, lying a hand on my shoulder. "I haven't even smelled human blood, yet. I think that's the only reason I am keeping my sanity," I replied, and Kate gave a sympathetic smile.

"It will be the hardest thing you'll ever do, but you are strong enough to abstain, I'm sure." Kate gave Alice a wink. "You have an amazing teacher in this little pest here."

Alice wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at Kate, making me giggle. "Come on, Andie," Alice said, grabbing my wrist. "You have to meet everyone else!"

So I was passed along from individual to individual, being introduced to the two beautiful women with Kate, her mate Garrett, and lastly, Alice stopped me in front of a tall immortal male with short black hair. Unlike before, she merely stood silent next to me while this man looked me over, staring in my plum-colored eyes for fifteen seconds straight. "Hunter. Tracker. Sees the essence, then knows it forever, storing it away like a file. The essence leaves traces that only her senses can pick up. Souls... what do they look like, young one?" The man looked at me with a face devoid of emotion, only a curious thing happened with his strawberry colored soul. It shrank to nothing before blinding me so that I had to look away from his gaze.

"Colors, sir," I answered softly. I was still mulling over what he had said. _Hunter. Tracker._ "Colors that reflect like light in the pupil, deep behind the eyes."

"Any defining feature per individual?"

"I've not seen the same shade of the same color of the same spectrum twice. Completely one's own, it seems."

He seemed to be at a loss for further words, and Alice smiled softly, taking the silence to introduce us. "Andie, this is Eleazar. Eleazar, this is my mate, my Andie." I gave him a weak smile, which he returned.

"Special, Alice, she really is. However, do not forget that it is dangerous for her as well, if you catch my drift. Perhaps it should not be a widely known talent. You may get more attention than either of you would like," he said gravely, and Alice gave a nod.

"I know he'll ask her. It's inevitable. But I believe he will respect her decision."

"One can only hope," Eleazar sighed, looking towards the house. "Where is Carlisle? Usually he greets us in the yard."

Alice bit her lip, hesitant to tell Eleazar that they weren't our only company. "Um... he is entertaining an unexpected guest."

"Oh? Who might it be?" Eleazar asked in an interested tone.

"Oh, you know... one of_ Il Fuoco Bambini,_" Alice replied as casually as if it were something she had said every day of her life. Only judging by Eleazar's face, it definitely wasn't something one heard on a regular basis.

"Amara?" he asked in a hushed whisper, almost in an awed fear. _I wonder_ _what this woman was like? Sheesh._ But Alice shook her head against his question, and he relaxed. "Then which is it? Kalilah or Bydrontine?"

"Do you know them?" came Tanya's sharp voice, and Eleazar turned his gaze to her.

"No, but it was quite the gem of Aro's dead heart once upon a time. He dreamed of having all three of them at his command. I heard rumors that he had coaxed Kalilah into staying with them for a while, using Chelsea to tie her feelings to Jane for a brief moment."

"You speak of me as if I cannot hear the words you say," came Kalilah's high pitched tone from the house, sharp and irritated.

"Forgive me, ma'am, I intend no insult," Eleazar murmured, looking again past us to the house. "You are one of the last people I would want to upset, Miss Kalilah."

I was still lost in my thoughts about what Eleazar had said about my Sight (this feels to be the right term), and found myself wanting to test it, to see if it were true. I wondered what traces of essence he meant, and how my senses would perceive it. After I began my restraint training, I would talk Alice into helping me develop that aspect of myself. I was curious to know it at its full potential. The only thing that snatched me back to reality was when Kate grabbed my left hand and gawked at the ring that rested there in its eternal home. "Uh, maybe I just missed it before, but... correct me if I am wrong, but this is a new addition to your hand, is it not?" she asked me with her eyebrow cocked and sly grin on her face.

"Kate! You weren't supposed to- ergh, I guess we might as well tell everyone now, because if Kate didn't just ruin it, then Bella is still debating on it! Is Rosalie the only person I can trust around here to keep their trap shut?" Alice rubbed her hands in her hair in agitation, stomping her foot, and I laughed at her little tantrum, convinced it was the cutest thing I'd ever seen. "Hey, guys, once we get the new issues out of the way- my newborn mate, the move, the meeting with Aro- there's going to be another wedding." She paused as she looked away from the room at large, and the vampires gathered in it, and looked directly through my soul. I felt something lock and click securely in my chest. It made me smile. "I am marrying Andie," she went on, looking back at them after a few too-short moments. "I've asked, she's agreed, now we just have to wade the water and make the plans."

"Congratulations, girls!" Esme said happily, clapping her hands softly. "Alice, dear, you know Rosalie and I will be honored if you'd allow us to help you plan it..."

"Of course, Mom," Alice replied with a smile, accepting the hugs that Emmett and Carlisle placed on her shoulders before giving me hugs as well. "I have to call Jasper and tell him; I'll need my best man!"

"Best man?" Rosalie and Tanya asked in unison, with twin looks of confusion.

"Well, I can't call him my Maid of Honor, now can I?" Alice said with a playful roll of her eyes.

"Phew," Tanya said, feinting a heart attack. "I thought for a second that you meant you were going to do something ridiculous, like wear a tux." Everyone in the room burst into laughter, save Kalilah, who did not know my Alice well enough to get the joke. My diva wouldn't be caught in the real death wearing men's attire of any sort.

"No, I'm wearing the tux," I said, and Alice's smile slid off her face as she looked at me with a new expression. It was the one that clearly said "I'm getting my way, don't bother to argue".

"No, you're not. Esme and Rosalie will pick out your dress so that I can't see it before the wedding," she said matter-of-factly.

"But I want to wear a tux."

"No."

"Alice-"

"_No_, Andie. Drop it."

I folded my arms over and chest a gave a sharp huff in my frustration. I hated dresses. I could count on one hand how many times I wore dresses in my life. But if it made her happy... I could live with it. "You're lucky I worship you," I grumbled, and she tinkled a laugh, leaning over to peck my cheek.

"I am," she agreed.

**A/N: A big thank you to Hollowgo for allowing me to briefly borrow Amara, as she was the first character to come to mind when I thought of the trio of fire gifted vampires. There's more back story there, but I really don't want to dig too deep on it. **

**Thanks for reaching my reviews to 52! Better than I could have hoped. Also thank you for the alerts/adds for WYTYKH, and if you're a Potter fan, dash over a check out my fic The Hogwarts Few. I'll be updating it shortly, and the action is just beginning.**

**As always... reviews are what keeps this brain of mine working. Leave one, pretty please?**


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I own no Twilight characters; though if I did own Alice, I think it would be more like she would own ME. Other than that, I merely own what my mind has begot. **

**AlicePOV:**

Hearing Kalilah's story was harrowing. She had been born in Constantinople, Byzantium in 1330 A.D. She had been a victim of the black plague in 1347 A.D., dying at the age of seventeen, one of nearly half of the population of the world's then-largest city. A male vampire found her in a pile of those presumed to be already dead, but he had detected the heartbeat and thought he could find a quick snack. Though tainted with the plague, the blood smelled the same. I had heard that from vampires older than Kalilah, herself. But as this vampire fed, the rage inside of Kalilah rose. She was angry she was dying. She was angry something was taking advantage of her weakness. She was just angry, she told us. And then as he fed, a heat rose from the core of her stomach and spread through her limbs, lighting the night sky with flames as the vampire caught fire in her arms. He was killed, but it was to late: he had already bitten her.

I was as captivated as the rest of our house, and Leah, who was sitting on her haunches in the tree line, listening to the extensive history of this ancient immortal that would forever be by her side. Kalilah kept sending nervous glances out to the wolf, but the fear she had for Leah had since dissolved into a roaring curiosity, and a longing need. I could see it in her orange eyes. We all could. I knew the feelings behind that look. It was the look I obtained when Andie was still human and would leave me for hours a day, living her life. And before she was aware of our mutual feelings, and we would spend even days, even an entire _week_ away from each other. It started as uncomfortable, which was what Kalilah was experiencing now, but I knew firsthand that it would evolve into an itch you couldn't scratch, thus becoming torture after extended amounts of time, painful in ways we had never suffered. I thought I was going crazy the first time I'd experienced it with Andie, and I found myself feeling a bit sympathetic to her as she explained her situation with the Volturi.

She had been accosted in Rome, where she had taken permanent residence after her first hundred years as a nomad. She was nearing five hundred when Demetri tracked her down and handed her a piece of paper, formally inviting her to meet with his Masters. She had heard of the Volturi, of course, and being of an intelligent mind and a pure heart, she avoided what she was sure sounded like an army, rather than a court of justice. She politely thanked Demetri and sent a note back with him to likewise thank the Masters for the invitation, and said perhaps she would accept at a later time. She saw Demetri out of the city like the lady she had trained herself to be, and promptly packed her most personal things and left the city for good. She had never met the other two vampires known as _Il Fuoco Bambini_, a term given to the gifted vampires by the Volturi. Four years ago, she had met a charming girl named Chelsea in Lyon, France. She and the vampire had immediately hit it off, and she found herself agreeing to accompanying Chelsea back to where she made her home in Italy.

Edward gave a loud snort, obviously seeing what Kalilah was seeing, and we all knew what had really happened in Lyon. Chelsea had been dispatched by Aro to use her gift against Kalilah and convince her to come to Volterra, where she had tied Kalilah to Jane, Aro's little arrogant monkey. Chelsea could pick us apart with her gift, take our allegiance and tie it to Aro, save for the simple fact that we have Bella.

Kalilah had paused when Edward gave his derisive noise, eyeing him briefly before continuing with her tale, which was coming to a close. "Once we arrived in Volterra, the thought began to form in my mind that this was familiar somehow, like I had avoided this place for important reasons. But I was so happy to be in the company of my friend Chelsea, because she was my first friend in nearly seven hundred years. I was alone by choice, to protect myself and others, but now I felt better than I ever had. So the thoughts of apprehension faded into this joyous feeling of belonging. When she led me to the throne room to introduce me to her Masters, we came upon Jane, who was waiting with her eyebrow raised in a lazy assessment of me. 'Not bad', is what she said to Chelsea. I just smiled at her. I belonged. If I'd only known then what I do now, this could have been over before it even began. I would have killed Chelsea without a thought, and whomever else the Volturi sent to me. But my loneliness..." She trailed off, looking into her own past, and Edward winced as he looked away from her to the floor beneath his glossy shoes. None of us knew seven hundred years alone. Not one of us.

Kalilah shook her head to free her mind of the thought, her long blue-black hair swishing into her face, covering her troubled eyes. "I was given to Jane. I was a gift. The most dangerous vampire amongst them, attempting to court me into ruthlessness. Applying their little goddess of torture to me, trying to convince me that their work was always just. No. I am my own judgement. I have always existed so. That was not an allegiance to anyone. It was a moral, and they could not crack it. That moral was what had been plucking at Chelsea's hold on me, eventually breaking free one day when I decided to just go. I left nearly a year ago. They were diligently making their arms stronger against something. They were trying to secure strong vampires. It was like they redoubled their recruiting efforts. I don't know what happened, but something scared them. I was to be a part of their retribution for something."

I cast glances around to my family, who were also catching each other's eyes. It was right after the incident with Nessie happened that Chelsea tracked Kalilah down once and for all. We and several other talented vampires had stood against them four years ago, daring them to attack. They chose to leave in peace. It sounded like they ran away to pump some iron, so to speak. It sounded like they were strengthening their guard against _us_. Five low growls in the woods told me the wolves didn't like the sound of that, either. Carlisle and Edward exchanged a significant look before Carlisle cleared his throat unnecessarily to catch Kalilah's attention from the gray wolf in the woods. "Kalilah, what if I were to tell you that it is likely those fears the Volturi harbor are of us?" he asked, also giving a tiny glance in Andie's direction. This would be the first time she would get the details of what had occured a few years ago, here in Forks.

"I would have to say I am curious as to why they would fear a family of benevolent beings such as yourselves," Kalilah replied in her soft, even way of speaking. I felt her age debilitated her from the round about way of general language. She was direct, but in a very light and polite manner. The way she had not even acknowledged our reaction to her status as a Fire Child led me to believe she was above such things as her phenomenal gift. I did not envy her, not at all. I am, by every right, a tad afraid of it. She did not use it to terrify, to conquer. She lived with it, defended with it, threatened with it to keep her reputation... she used it to survive alone and untouched. I respected her for that.

"There was a misunderstanding nearly five years ago, when Edward and Bella had my granddaughter, Renesmee. The Volturi took it to mind that she was an Immortal Child, and came with the entire guard, and even the wives. We had assembled a group of vampires that had witnessed for themselves that she was indeed half-human, half-vampire, conceived by Edward and Bella before Bella was immortal. Our purpose was solely to get them to stop and reconsider their condemnation, and it worked, thanks to our little Alice here, she truly saved the day that day. But that wasn't enough, we had won the battle but the war was yet to come. There was an unsaid judgement passed that day, but they have left us in peace since the incident."

I felt Andie's eyes fall on me when Carlisle said what he said about me searching and tracking down the hybrid vampire Naheul as proof that Nessie was _not_ a threat or an abomination, merely a rarity. I knew I would have to tell that part of the story for her one day, and I felt a thrill run through me at the thought. I'd never told anyone about the things Jasper and I faced while we feverishly moved from place to place to find something or someone that could tell me something of vampire-human hybrids. Thank the gods that we had found the Amazons, and that Kachiri led us through the jungle to find that hole in my vision. I learned a lot about myself on that trip. I'd never shared it with anyone, not even Bella when she asked. It was always better left for Jasper and I. It was our story. It was the more reason he was my favorite brother. It was more reason why I wished he would find his mate. And I would tell Andie all of this, and probably soon. I wanted her to know everything. I wished I could tell her things I couldn't remember.

I reached for her hand and laced my fingers through it, lifting it to my lips to press tiny kisses across her knuckles. My love. When I looked up into her dark eyes, I realized she still needed to hunt from before, when we had to stop the glorious activities we were doing hours ago. The people talking in the background became just a hum as I leaned to kiss her, and she kissed me back, her hand pulling away from mine only to land on my hip, pulling me closer to her. Before I knew it, we were getting a little carried away right in front of everyone, and neither of us realized it until Edward and Emmett pulled us apart.

Andie snarled at them, taking a snap at Edward's face, making him recoil from the venom flecking across his nose, loosening his grip long enough for Andie to pull her arm free and make a grab for Emmett. In a flash of blonde hair, Rosalie appeared with her arms around my mate, atttempting to restrain her, and I snarled at her. _You won't harm what's MINE. Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm, Alice, _I told myself. _But she's touching her! _She won't hurt her. _She finds her attractive! _Before I could swallow the rage rising in me, I crouched and sprang at Rosalie, but was knocked sideways by Bella, who gave a low growl at me in warning. I snapped my teeth at her, but looked back at Rosalie and was preparing to try to attack her again when Carlisle finally stepped in.

"ENOUGH!" he roared, making everyone wince around him, even Tanya and Edward, who had known him the longest of everyone in this room. He looked at Andie first. "With the exception of Andie, the rest of you know how to behave! You're all acting like you're as young as she! Alice, get that look off your face, you are not attacking Rosalie!" I looked at him with a snarl when he said that, as Rosalie still stood with her arms around Andie, who was struggling to get back to me, and ruining the carpet as she dragged Rosalie with her.

"Go hunt! Both of you! Out out out!" Esme squealed, looking at the carpet with an appalled stare, flinging her hands in the direction of the door.

I grabbed my mate out Rosalie's grip and threw her onto my back, giving everyone a look that clearly said I needed space. As we left to go to the woods, I heard Rosalie grumble to herself. "Alice is a bitch since she's mated. Sheesh, I'm not even _attracted_ to girls."

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. It didn't matter. I'm not attracted to men, either, but if I went and climbed all over Emmett, she would tear my head off and light the fire.

Andie was still trying to go back to the house, not under control at all, but not willing to hurt me to get back, either. When I had her little struggling newborn butt far enough away, I pulled her around to my front and touched her face, trying to get some color to return to her pitch black eyes. "Andie." I said her name, and she flinched, still lightly pushing against me, but her growls were growing lower, and finally turned into purrs as she gave up her half-hearted fighting.

I held her against me for another minute while she came back to herself, and when she was finally silent, I knew her conscious self had returned. "Welcome back," I said softly, rubbing her back.

She groaned into my neck, where the vampire had hidden her face in the attempt to find solace in her mate. "Sorry about that," she whispered, and I chuckled.

"Eh, it was bound to happen. The rest of us should have known better, though," I replied, shaking my head at me and my siblings. Carlisle was right, we should have acted like he's taught us. "We were all like newborns just then."

"Well, this mate thing is new to you," she defended me. "You can't control how you react when I lose my shit."

I laughed. She was right. "It's okay, no harm done. Well, the carpet in the living room isn't much to look at, but Esme's going to put in a wood floor, and it will work out."

She pulled back to look at me, and I set her down on her feet, stepping back to give her some room if she needed it. "Can we hunt?" she asked me in a small voice, still ashamed of her actions inside.

"Of course," I whispered, leaning forward to press my lips to hers. "Let's take care of that, and then..." I kissed her again, just a little differently, but it got just the response from her I wanted, as her breath excelled and that intoxicatingly sweet aroma swirled around us. She gripped the collar of my shirt in her fist, deepening the kiss, but then broke away with a a small growl. Her thirst was winning out for the first time, and she was getting frustrated in too many ways.

"Come on," she whispered, her eyes black once more. "I want you to watch me hunt." Her voice had suddenly dropped to a seductive tone, and I began to purr at her in reflex. That sounded amazing.

"Please," I said, making a gesture for her to lead the way. I'd follow my little soul seeing tracker anywhere.

**To Be Continued...**

**A/N: So, this is it... the end. There will be a sequel, because it's not over, not by a long shot. But I think 26 chapters is long enough. :P If you want more of my work, you should try out La Lune Bleu, my Bellice piece I have only just started. It's getting great reviews.**

**Thank you all for sticking it out with me and Andie for so long. It tickles my soul that you all liked her so much. And this is what makes me want to continue their story. **


	27. Chapter 27

**YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHH BOOOOOOOOOYY!**

**Just kidding but hey- there's a one shot of Andie and Alice *gasp***

**It's called Hide and Seek, and if you like this story, you should read it... it somewhat introduces what will become the sequel, and explains more about Andie's talent and how it works... they even get it on!**

**Thank you guys for the support with this OC slash. I can't tell you how much I love you guys!**

**If you haven't read my Bellice La Lune Bleu, I suggest you try it out, and my one shot Simple Truths for a little Bellice cozy time. **

**A.S.R. out.**


	28. Chapter 28

**JUST AN AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

**I have started the sequel to this story, if anyone is still interested in reading it, so pop on over to Hide and Seek and get to perusing! :P**

**I hope you're as excited as I am to continue Andie and Alice's story. **

**Also, if you haven't read my Bellice, you should try it out, as well :) things are just now starting to heat up...**

**Thank you as always for the wonderful reviews and support!**

**A.S.R.**


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